:01:22. > :01:25.In the South: After all the national attention, the visits from
:01:25. > :01:35.big beasts and the tons of leaflets through letterboxes, just what did
:01:35. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :38:14.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2199 seconds
:38:14. > :38:19.the Eastleigh by election do for Welcome to Sunday Politics South,
:38:19. > :38:21.my name's Peter Henley. So, the voters of Eastleigh have had their
:38:21. > :38:24.say, all those politicians who trekked down have headed back to
:38:24. > :38:27.the big city, and householders are clearing up the tons of leaflets
:38:27. > :38:31.that were squeezed through their doors. But just where does it leave
:38:31. > :38:34.the four main parties here in the south? Joining me today are the
:38:34. > :38:36.Conservative MP for Bournemouth West, Conor Burns: the Labour MP
:38:36. > :38:46.for Southampton Test, Alan Whitehead; and the Lib Dem leader
:38:46. > :38:58.
:38:58. > :39:08.of Eastleigh Borough Council, Keith An architect of the Lib Dem victory
:39:08. > :39:09.
:39:09. > :39:12.some might say. We had expected Nigel Farage. -- We had expected
:39:12. > :39:15.Nigel Farage from UKIP, but sadly the lure of the bright lights in
:39:15. > :39:19.London proved too great and he's been up there doing interviews this
:39:19. > :39:28.morning. We'll be hearing from the three who are here in a minute -
:39:28. > :39:36.first here's Roger Finn with the highlights of Thursday night. What
:39:36. > :39:43.do you pick it down to? Everybody, this lot, all of them. I alongside
:39:43. > :39:53.the Lib Dem jury this was also an extraordinary night for Plaid Cymru.
:39:53. > :39:54.
:39:54. > :40:04.They attracted up to half of the party's votes in some areas. --
:40:04. > :40:05.
:40:05. > :40:11.UKIP. It was a well-oiled political machine. Labour took consolation in
:40:11. > :40:16.increasing their share of the vote slightly. Do actually get boards we
:40:16. > :40:26.have to be organised on the ground, people have to see us in their
:40:26. > :40:33.
:40:33. > :40:43.communities all-year-round. Dash -- votes. But the night belonged to
:40:43. > :40:44.
:40:44. > :40:50.the Lib Dems. They have now won at Eastleigh six times in a row.
:40:50. > :40:59.seats will take real heart in this result. There are probably 30 Tory
:40:59. > :41:09.MPs quaking in their bids because we can take some of their seats.
:41:09. > :41:10.
:41:10. > :41:20.UKIP votes rose dramatically. voted for UKIP, I want Britain back.
:41:20. > :41:21.
:41:21. > :41:27.I voted for UKIP. I changed my vote this time. The result will be
:41:28. > :41:34.analysed for many weeks more. Can I start with a strange thought that
:41:34. > :41:44.actually East Leake tells us nothing, this is a basic protest
:41:44. > :41:53.vote and the Lib Dem share of the vote and conservative vote felt.
:41:53. > :41:59.course, by-elections are used as a protest. There is a suggestion that
:41:59. > :42:04.83% of the UKIP boat was a protest bowled. We were here having did
:42:04. > :42:10.take responsible decisions, running the council. So it is not such a
:42:10. > :42:17.huge victory? That is not the case because under normal circumstances
:42:17. > :42:23.you would have expected UKIP to win as they are the vehicle for protest.
:42:23. > :42:28.The reason they were not able to do that was shown on your clip. We
:42:28. > :42:34.have am very good team in Eastleigh built up over a number of years and
:42:34. > :42:37.built on a solid record of delivery. We fought on local issues. There
:42:37. > :42:43.were enough people out there in Eastleigh who said they thought we
:42:43. > :42:49.were doing good work and to keep going with it. The votes did not go
:42:49. > :42:54.to Labour, that must have been a failure? They did go to Labour but
:42:54. > :43:01.Labour did not get squeezed in terms of its votes. If we had a
:43:01. > :43:10.national election based on one third of Liberal Democrat votes
:43:10. > :43:13.going and one-third of conservative votes going to Labour we would have
:43:13. > :43:19.quite a different scene. They should have come swarming back to
:43:19. > :43:27.you. Certainly the expectation that might have been there that a large
:43:27. > :43:34.number of votes might have come to Labour went realised and that is
:43:34. > :43:38.partly a function of organisation on the ground. Labour has not been
:43:38. > :43:43.well organised in Eastleigh and trying to make that up over a few
:43:43. > :43:51.weeks was a hard task. The Labour vote that there was stayed fairly
:43:51. > :43:57.solid without an enormous advance. As bad as the UKIP boats, they came
:43:57. > :44:03.from Conservatives and a few from the Lib Dems. It came from people
:44:03. > :44:08.from all political parties. It came pretty evenly from Conservatives
:44:08. > :44:15.and Liberal Democrats. Clearly there is a debate to be had because
:44:15. > :44:20.we do not have an issue of immigration but clearly there is a
:44:20. > :44:28.fear their in Eastleigh. The Labour campaign was built on the false
:44:28. > :44:33.premise that there were 29 million Bulgarians about to fetch up on the
:44:33. > :44:40.doorsteps of Eastleigh. Does it show that Lib Dems might be out of
:44:40. > :44:45.touch with people's feelings on immigration? No, I think by-
:44:45. > :44:49.elections are used as a protest opportunity. They want to go big
:44:49. > :44:58.parties the taking. Normally we would see the benefit of that but
:44:58. > :45:02.not this time. Generally speaking the protest party picks up the seat.
:45:02. > :45:08.Generally speaking, where did the Conservative campaign go wrong?
:45:08. > :45:13.the context of Chris Huhne I would make the points, the Liberal
:45:13. > :45:17.Democrats have a very effective grassroots organisation. Focus
:45:17. > :45:23.leaflets come through the door every three months regularly. The
:45:23. > :45:28.other parties or may appear at election time. Their record on the
:45:28. > :45:38.council is a strong one. The deliver services and keep a grip on
:45:38. > :45:40.
:45:40. > :45:45.council tax. The Liberal Democrats have also been working with the
:45:45. > :45:51.local cricket ground. I think lastly we have no organisation to
:45:51. > :45:57.speak of on the ground in Eastleigh, that is a huge failure in our part.
:45:57. > :46:01.Part of it ties to local Government leadership. The leader of the
:46:01. > :46:07.council will celebrate 50 each year's service this year. His focus
:46:07. > :46:13.has not been on rebuilding our organisation. Those things coming
:46:13. > :46:16.together delivered the result. In the context of the weakness of our
:46:16. > :46:21.organisation in the constituency it was a very good campaign but it
:46:21. > :46:24.relied on bussing people in from outside to did not have the local
:46:24. > :46:31.knowledge and connections that the grass roots embedded organisation
:46:31. > :46:35.within a constituency would have had. The one lesson we need to take
:46:35. > :46:40.away from this is that we cannot win elections purely on the
:46:40. > :46:46.airwaves from Westminster, we have to win them on the ground in the
:46:46. > :46:50.constituency. Particularly in the context of what is happening with
:46:50. > :46:55.UKIP, the do identify with local concerns. This was a cost of living
:46:55. > :47:00.election to some degree, food prices are going up, petrol and
:47:00. > :47:05.utility prices are going up but incomes are at fixed or falling.
:47:05. > :47:10.People are feeling the pinch. They want to know that the politicians
:47:10. > :47:13.charged with the responsibility of Government get that. We have a huge
:47:13. > :47:19.opportunity in the forthcoming Budget to show the people of
:47:19. > :47:23.Eastleigh that we do get that and have a cost-of-living budget.
:47:23. > :47:26.Ed Miliband if he wants a One nation party that fights in the
:47:26. > :47:31.south he has to find a way of changing the way Labour is
:47:32. > :47:36.organised? Yes. The question of organisation on the ground anywhere
:47:36. > :47:39.in the country is becoming increasingly important in elections.
:47:39. > :47:44.It is clear in the south of England that Labour, with the exception of
:47:44. > :47:48.a number of important places, have not been well thought of in the
:47:48. > :47:53.past. It is not just a question of the message you are putting a cross,
:47:53. > :47:57.Jean Jean the message for this week or next week, it is a question of
:47:57. > :48:04.being there over a period of time and making sure that message is
:48:04. > :48:11.discussed, disseminated and people are brought along with it. Tough on
:48:11. > :48:16.the side of immigration maybe? is one which featured to some
:48:16. > :48:21.extent within the campaign. I have to say my experience of talking to
:48:21. > :48:27.a lot of people on the doorstep in Eastleigh was actually that does
:48:27. > :48:32.the you might have thought would have voted for UKIP on immigration
:48:32. > :48:38.were actually doing so for a whole variety of reasons. It was not
:48:38. > :48:44.quite the issue I thought it might be. Certainly the wider issue of
:48:44. > :48:48.how you make sure that you have secured boundaries, that you are
:48:48. > :48:55.actually making sure there are proper opportunities for those
:48:55. > :49:01.people who are UK jobseeker's and workers along with other people,
:49:01. > :49:06.things such as minimum wage agencies, making sure they recruit
:49:06. > :49:11.everybody and not just people from certain parts of the world, those I
:49:11. > :49:16.think our real issues that have to be discussed in a more robust way.
:49:16. > :49:21.Both parties are moving on this and you are not? The underlying issue
:49:21. > :49:25.that was spoken about was that party organisations need to be more
:49:25. > :49:35.resilient and more embedded in the communities and talk to people
:49:35. > :49:35.
:49:35. > :49:41.routinely. We had a great machine in Eastleigh. The question for UKIP
:49:41. > :49:46.was the issues of Europe where you party want to just keep going.
:49:46. > :49:53.was an opportunity for protest and UKIP were able to capitalise on
:49:53. > :49:57.that. Our campaign was on housing and local issues, we will keep on
:49:57. > :50:02.to those campaign issues because they are what matter to people on a
:50:02. > :50:07.day to day and month to month basis. Hopefully our machines across the
:50:07. > :50:13.other parts of the area will have been enlivened by the success we
:50:13. > :50:16.have had in Eastleigh. That is that election dealt with! Now let's look
:50:17. > :50:19.at another one. The Police And Crime Commissioners passed their
:50:19. > :50:22.hundredth day in office this week. It's a completely arbitrary
:50:22. > :50:26.benchmark of course - they've still got another three years in the job
:50:26. > :50:29.- but it's also the week in which a survey showed that nine out of ten
:50:29. > :50:32.people can't name their local PCC. So we sent our Home Affairs
:50:32. > :50:41.Correspondent Alex Forsyth out to see what they've really achieved in
:50:41. > :50:45.100 days. It was meant to be a big job for a big local personality to
:50:45. > :50:50.be in charge of a police force and make local decisions and whom local
:50:51. > :50:55.people could go to with their concerns about policing. After 100
:50:55. > :51:03.days in the job how many people here in Hampshire know who their
:51:03. > :51:08.Police And Crime Commissioner is. Do you recognise this guy? Um?
:51:08. > :51:15.not sure who. I do but I cannot think too. I imagine someone like
:51:15. > :51:22.the police commissioner. Excellent, spot on. He has been on the
:51:22. > :51:27.television recently. Have not a clue who fears. Sorry. He is
:51:27. > :51:34.Hampshire's Police And Crime Commissioner. Oh, right, OK, Hello!
:51:34. > :51:40.He asked him whether he thinks the role has had any impact so far?
:51:40. > :51:44.has only been 100 days. There is still a lot more to do. I hope the
:51:44. > :51:49.people are beginning slowly to know what I can do and how I can work
:51:49. > :51:53.with them in their communities and certainly where I have been, where
:51:53. > :52:00.I have spoken, people have seen the benefit of it and are prepared to
:52:00. > :52:05.be engaged with me and in my office. I am encouraged by that.
:52:05. > :52:13.South's six commissioners have all approach the job differently. This
:52:13. > :52:17.man has appointed paid deputies. This man has met around 3,000
:52:17. > :52:24.people at public meetings and is setting up forums for the public.
:52:24. > :52:31.This woman from Sussex has been to neighbourhood panels, hosted a live
:52:31. > :52:36.Facebook chat and is an avid tweeter. But former police are
:52:36. > :52:40.authority cheer, Jackie Raymond, who lost out in the Commissioner
:52:40. > :52:45.elections wonders whether any amount of effort will engage the
:52:45. > :52:50.public. I am trying to make a difference but I think the public
:52:50. > :52:54.want to know that the police are doing what they need to do and they
:52:54. > :52:58.are not really interested in the Government's am less it all goes
:52:58. > :53:03.wrong. These 100 days have been a chance for commissioners to get to
:53:03. > :53:08.grips with the job. They are now drawing up their police and crime
:53:08. > :53:13.plans, setting out their priorities for the next five years, then they
:53:13. > :53:20.will be expected to deliver. In Wiltshire the focus is on frontline
:53:20. > :53:27.staff and giving victims are boys. The same, too, in Surrey. In the
:53:27. > :53:31.Thames Valley rural crime and burglary are key. In Dorset and
:53:31. > :53:37.Sussex they want to recruit more volunteer officers and tackle
:53:37. > :53:41.domestic violence. That is a priority for this man, too, who
:53:41. > :53:45.also wants to reduce reoffending and increase frontline police.
:53:45. > :53:52.gave myself this financial year to get all that sorted out so that we
:53:52. > :53:57.have a budget down to plan. And our working relationship with statutory
:53:57. > :54:01.bodies and a complaint process in place. I want to have the ability
:54:01. > :54:08.within my job is to respond to what is already a considerable public
:54:08. > :54:15.interest. It is early days but that is the plan and it is on track.
:54:15. > :54:18.were just talking around the table here and none of you have met you
:54:18. > :54:22.police and crime commissioner within the first 100 days. There
:54:22. > :54:28.were no Liberal Democrat elected, none from UKIP either but there
:54:28. > :54:32.were quite a few independents. I guess that was a protest? We were
:54:32. > :54:36.not a fan of this process because we're in the coalition and you have
:54:36. > :54:44.to go along with something should do not like, that is what coalition
:54:44. > :54:49.is about. I did vote for it, I was technically and member of the
:54:49. > :54:53.Government at the time. But you regret it? I do not like the
:54:53. > :54:58.concept of people elected on party political platforms having control
:54:58. > :55:03.of policing. I felt that was an opportunity for some people to play
:55:03. > :55:07.to the gallery. In Bournemouth the number one policing priority
:55:07. > :55:13.according to many local people is cycling on the promenade. Other
:55:13. > :55:18.people in the constituency would say drug problems and gangs. The
:55:18. > :55:22.idea that the middle classes could dictate the priority of the
:55:22. > :55:29.policing operational decisions I was very nervous about. A neighbour
:55:29. > :55:37.not happy with the idea of power in one pair of hands. The same as the
:55:37. > :55:41.idea of elected mayors all over the country. Police in authorities
:55:41. > :55:45.where a collection of people taking decisions together. You clerk as
:55:45. > :55:49.shown people do not know who the police commissioners are so there
:55:49. > :55:52.is no more transparency in this system but at least in the old one
:55:52. > :55:58.there were a collection of people and communities involved in
:55:58. > :56:03.decision-making. My preference would be to return policing to the
:56:03. > :56:09.control of local authorities from whence they came. People across the
:56:09. > :56:15.place could represent the views of the whole community. Would you like
:56:15. > :56:20.to see, if Labour got in, this to continue or to get rid of them?
:56:20. > :56:27.that point it is a question of whether you disentangle as system
:56:27. > :56:34.which at that point would have started to run. I was not a fan of
:56:34. > :56:38.the process in the first place. I would have thought the priority of
:56:38. > :56:42.getting rid of it would not be high after the next election but we
:56:42. > :56:47.could point to a whole range of mistakes that were made in bringing
:56:47. > :56:51.this system about. For example, during the election nobody knew who
:56:51. > :56:58.the candidates were because there was no communication saying who
:56:58. > :57:02.they were for the election. That was a money-saving exercise. Yes,
:57:02. > :57:06.we had a 15% turnout and candidates who were universally not known to
:57:06. > :57:11.anybody. That is translated into what we now know about police
:57:11. > :57:15.commissioners. I knew and Hampshire knew that the previous chair of the
:57:15. > :57:20.police authority was not much better than is likely to be the
:57:20. > :57:23.case for a long time for the new police commissioner. I thought it
:57:23. > :57:28.was a very strange idea to have an election in the middle of November,
:57:28. > :57:31.to not give the candidates the opportunity to put out a mailshot
:57:31. > :57:35.to explain what they wear, what they wanted to do and what the role
:57:35. > :57:41.was. The Brocket in but did not back him with the resources that
:57:41. > :57:46.might have given it a more flying start and it has had. Another
:57:46. > :57:51.criticism of David Cameron? It is a criticism of David Cameron but if
:57:51. > :57:55.you want a big change in the way policing is done and is held to
:57:55. > :58:00.democratic accountability, you have the responsibility to pick the
:58:00. > :58:05.resource behind that to make it a good start. That has not happened.
:58:05. > :58:08.The bottom line is it is about operational services. The idea this
:58:08. > :58:13.arrangement will make any difference to that whatsoever is
:58:13. > :58:23.questionable. Thank you. Now our regular round-up of the political
:58:23. > :58:24.
:58:24. > :58:32.week in the South in 60 seconds. More council tax decisions this
:58:32. > :58:36.week. In pool the council came a cropper when people join de Lib
:58:36. > :58:46.Dems to force a three's. Now the council says it has to find another
:58:46. > :59:00.
:59:00. > :59:05.4 million end cash. And the farmers' markets are doing well
:59:05. > :59:12.after the horse made crisis. It is all local. Born here, raised deer
:59:12. > :59:19.and sold here. You could be getting your copy from criminals. And this
:59:19. > :59:29.landfill site. Good news for Arctic -- for war veterans to to be
:59:29. > :59:30.
:59:30. > :59:40.getting their medals this month. So the council tax there. Pool
:59:40. > :59:40.
:59:40. > :59:45.People's Party, UKIP and keeping the council tax down. Some are
:59:45. > :59:50.arguing that pool should take Eric Pickles No money. For the third
:59:50. > :59:53.year in a row we're going for the council tax freeze. The leader in
:59:53. > :59:58.Bournemouth is cutting spending so we will have a total freeze across
:59:58. > :00:03.the whole thing. Do you think the three's you have had for some time
:00:03. > :00:07.in Eastleigh help you? In Eastleigh we have taken the view that council
:00:07. > :00:12.tax is inherently unfair which is why we have in real terms been
:00:12. > :00:16.cutting it for the last 10 years. You support these and thing
:00:16. > :00:19.services should not be cut? Defending services is very
:00:19. > :00:29.important but local authorities as a whole and a very difficult
:00:29. > :00:35.
:00:35. > :00:41.position. Taking the "pickles money" is very difficult indeed. We
:00:41. > :00:44.are going to have no revenue bees because Government cuts of 28% over
:00:44. > :00:48.four years for local Government services, money to local
:00:48. > :00:53.authorities to back up their services, is a key factor. We
:00:53. > :00:56.cannot make that up with council tax increases, local authorities
:00:56. > :01:00.Adana impossible position. That's the Sunday Politics in the South,
:01:00. > :01:02.thanks to my guests Alan Whitehead, Conor Burns and Keith House. Normal