The Liberal Democrats after winning in West Hampstead

IN the end it was not a matter of who would win, but by how much.

What might have been a suspenseful evening of counting votes at the Town Hall on Thursday night, quickly became a victory lap for the Liberal Democrats as they claimed a landslide victory in the West Hampstead by-election.

The winner was Janet Grauberg with more than half of the vote.

The name will be familiar for anybody who follows Camden’s politics as she was part of the Liberal Democrat group which rose to become the biggest party on the council back in 2006.

She served then as the council’s finance chief.

The sight of the “winning here” orange diamonds being held aloft on the marble staircase in Judd Street has not been quite as frequent as in the past, but the scale of the win here has left party members inevitably thinking about what more might come their way at the boroughwide elections next May.

Appropriately, the late night celebrations moved on to the home of Alderman Flick Rea, the former councillor who had once done so much to help grow the Lib Dem contingent in Camden by breaking out of small beginnings in the north west of the borough.

The obvious question for Cllr Grauberg was whether we would see history repeat ­itself. Her response suggested the ranks have been asked not to get too far ahead of themselves at this stage, “I think an August by-election with a 26 per cent turnout is not a predictor of anything,” she said.

“Obviously the Liberal Democrats did well in the general election last year and we are hoping to do well next year but I don’t think you can read too much into this.”

But she added: “The residents of West Hampstead liked the offer of a hard-working, experienced councillor embedded in the community. It’s now down to me to make that happen.”

Strictly speaking a blue Conservative seat at the Town Hall has turned yellow, as it was the resignation of Tory councilor Shiva Tiwari which triggered the ward by-election.

He had stepped down after CCTV showed him raging at shop staff over being stopped from collecting a parcel due to not having the right ID.

This was really a gain from Labour, however, who won all three seats the last time the ward went to the ballot box.

Mr Tiwari defected to the Conservatives earlier this year.

Almost immediately after the result, the prominent Liberal Democrat writer and party president Lord Mark Park raced to his blog to declare victory in ‘Keir Starmer’s backyard’ – the phrase that now seems to be applied to the reporting of every political development in Camden since the Holborn and St Pancras MP became leader of the Labour Party and then Prime Minister.

A key question in the analysis will be how much this runaway scoreline was down to a judgement on Labour’s local performance running the council or how far voters wanted to send a verdict on the party’s first year in government – and how either will play out in the coming months.

Cllr Grauberg said: “The campaign we ran was about local issues and it resonated with people.

“The things we were talking about were rubbish on the streets, drug-taking in the streets, overdevelopment at the O2 Centre. I think that’s what they voted on.”

Group leader Tom Simon, the leader of the opposition in Camden, said: “I’m so pleased that Janet has won – she’s worked so hard for West Hampstead for a very long time. “I think she has earned this victory and her place on the council, and it’s going to be great having her in the Lib Dem group. “It moves us up to six (councillors) and reinforces us as the main opposition on the council and we are looking forward to May next year where I hope we can build on this.”

Labour still retains a huge lead in Camden and currently holds 45 of the 55 seats. The Liberal Democrats now have six, with the Conservatives on three and the Greens represented by a sole councillor in Highgate.

‘Unpopularity’ leaves Labour with work to do

LABOUR councillors and possible candidates have been warned that the party’s “national unpopularity” was a factor in their bruising West Hampstead by-election defeat.

The result – its worst ever share of the vote recorded in a council by-election where Labour has been defending a seat – has left questions about which wards could now be vulnerable to further losses at next May’s boroughwide elections.

While Labour are not expected to lose control of the council, several councillors – including cabinet members – are in areas where either the Lib Dems or Greens are likely to target their campaigns.

They include the Labour leader of the council Richard Olszewski, who represents Fortune Green – the neighbouring ward to West Hampstead and where the Lib Dems already have one councillor.

Council leader Councillor Richard Olszewski

Candidate vacancies in the safe territory of Holborn and Covent Garden now understandably look appealing to sitting councillors worried about the current trend, although such switches are usually branded “chicken runs” by opponents.

The selection process to decided who will stand where will now pick up speed.

Cllr Olszewski said in a message sent to councillors after last week’s outcome in West Hampstead that it was “clearly very disappointing”, although praised a “really well-organised campaign”.

Candidate Francesca Reynolds is not being blamed for the size of the loss, with external factors being discussed.

“There’s only so much you can do to swim against the national tide,” Cllr Olszewski said in his message to councillors.

“The legacy of the previous turncoat Tory didn’t help us, but we are clearly being impacted by our national unpopularity, just like everywhere else.”

He said that the party was proud of its local performance and “will not be disheartened by the result”.

But there would be a group discussion to plan for the next elections where, the leader warned, members should “take nothing for granted, with everyone playing their part.”

Results in Camden have received extra national publicity since Holborn and St Pancras MP Sir Keir Starmer became the prime minister and local councillors have stepped carefully not to publicly criticise his government’s decisions in its first year – even if some have private reservations about some of the policies or how they are communicated.

The only time Labour has really lost significant ground in Camden council politics, however, was in 2006 – a time which coincided with anger over the Iraq war and Tony Blair’s falling popularity.

Ms Reynolds, who has been tipped for a bright future in the party, said: “It’s a real shame not to have won. The last few weeks have enabled me to speak to so many amazing residents.

“It’s been a privilege to speak to them, hear how we can make our ward better, and for so many of them to trust their vote with me, means a lot. I’ll continue to work hard to make West Hampstead a better place in any way I can.”