05/05/2013 Sunday Politics South

In the South. We've had the voting and the counting, the cheering and

the crying. Now it's time to figure out what last Thursday's elections

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2226 seconds

have done to the politics in our Welcome to Sunday Politics. My name

is Peter Henley. Today, with the votes counted on the political

kaleidoscope shaken, who were the winners and losers in the south? I

am joined with four politicians. Louise Goldsmith is the

Conservative leader of West Sussex County Council, Paul Harvey is a

Labour councillor, Zoe Patrick is on Oxfordshire County Council, and

Ray Finch is one of the newly elected UKIP councillors in

Hampshire. We have seen you before, but now, one in four vaults.

political landscape has changed. We have now broken the mould, and

we're going to be building all the way through. It was the

Conservatives you took from? general. We have beaten the

Conservatives, but we are drawing There was no Labour councillor lost

the UKIP. You're not worried by that? They are an important factor

now, and no one should ignore them. How we respond is the main issue.

Labour did not lose any seats to UKIP. We gained in the south and

all the key target areas. Really? Everywhere you wanted? Yes,

Hastings and Banbury, Oxford. centre of what needs. Yes, the

middle of the Prime Minister's constituency. It shows the progress

we are making. And Weymouth in Dorset. It bodes well for the

general election, building support in those areas are. But they are

few and far between. It is only the areas where you have Labour Party

members. We have them all over the place. In terms of concentrating

where we will win and achieve results on the ground, you are

right, but as a party we are coming back across those areas. We are

growing again as a Labour Party in the south-east. Right. Patrick, the

Liberal Democrats really did lose a lot. -- Zoe Patrick. Were you

expecting this to be as bad? When you're in a coalition government,

the National Party of things does comedown a bit to the local level.

From the point of view of on to -- we held on to all the

seats we hadn't made some gains. We were very pleased with what

happened. The target place, again you lost a parliamentary seat, but

If you are just campaigning where you have parliamentary seats, that

is even fewer than Labour? really. All of the seats that we

held were the ones that counsellors worked hard in their communities, I

think Lib Dems are known for getting on and getting the job done.

We were all re-elected in the areas where we work hard and were

recognised. None of those seats were lost. And regained those in

the Oxford West and Abingdon, and again that is very important to us.

Another one in the Wantage constituency. We were very pleased

with our performance. Louise, what was the highlight for you?

highlight was we started off with 47 Conservatives, and we ended up

at the end of the count with 46 Conservatives. We had a few losses

and a few games. I think Labour could have done better. We held

till Gayton furnace in Crawley, and he had a tourer -- did a terrific

would have held on to another division in Crawley. In Little

Hampton town, we thought it would go to Labour, but it went to Lib

Dem, which was interesting. Seven out of eight in Hastings. The

Labour Party are strong. UKIP are now the National opposition.

Wherever someone stands, UKIP generally are second place or are

All of these parties have specific areas of strength. In other places

they have nothing. If you look at the results, we work more often

than not either first or second. Thursday 2nd May, it is your chance

to have you see. A town crier and sunny weather

wasn't enough to tempt many voters. The turnout was well under 40% in

The overnight results set the pattern for the rest of the day.

Hampshire so UKIP winning 10 seats across the county. Bad news for the

Lib Dems, who lost eight overall. Labour jumped from having no seats

on the council to four on the new one. The council leader promptly

Dorset stays in the Tory fold. They will also be getting a new leader.

Angus Campbell said he would stand down before the ballot. UKIP scored

another win, but their candidate had been so convinced he would lose

that he did not turn up. Labour were chipper about picking up five

seats around Weymouth and Portland. This result tonight is partly a

reflection on how strong the Labour Party has become across the country,

but also the hard work we have put The Conservatives safely held onto

West Sussex, but the Lib Dem vote collapsed and they lost 10 seats.

UKIP pushed them into third place, getting 10 councillors elected.

Some cheer for Labour who picked up their target seats around Crawley,

ending up with double the councillors they had before. It was

not long before recriminations over UKIP's success began. There are a

couple of issues that I feel the ruling elite will not discuss, and

they think that the little people do not know what we're talking

about. But we can listen and we do have values.

I Conservative hold in Buckinghamshire, but UKIP picked up

half a dozen seats there, and pushed Lib Dems into third place.

In Oxfordshire, it was a different story. The county but the trend and

did not elect a single UKIP councillor. Labour was the party

making significant gains. They now have 15 seats, including one in the

Prime Minister's home town of with me. -- Whitney. The Conservatives

are just one seat short of a majority. A major upset on the Isle

of Wight, and a third council to be definitely getting a new leader.

The Conservative lost his seat by just 10 votes, to one of the 20

independent or non- aligned councils. There is a genuine risk

that the island will not have a firm direction, but Meiji -- maybe

a more collegiate approach will, for good.

The South... With all the losses and the UKIP and Labour gains, it

is a lighter shade of blue than last week.

Louise Goldsmith, what shade of blue do you think David Cameron

will need to win this next election? Do you think he has to

listen to the result? It is a sign that there is a different view of

Westminster, out of touch with how people feel. I am not sure if they

are out of touch, but they have been focused on a number of things.

They had sorted out the economy, trying to sort out the deficit,

which is down 1/3. Immigration is down 1/3. They have done some

cracking things. But immigration was the big UKIP issue. That is

what I am coming to. Getting that message out, we have not done that

well. I was surprised because I was talking about -- to people about

some of our policies, he said they did not realise we were doing that.

There is something about going back and connecting, and I think people

have been focused on doing a job, but they have not done that

communication well. That is the message sent to the, I know the

councillors have been getting that message out, and I see they have

liked what we said under policies, and the result is there to be seen.

It looks as if Labour have been chasing the right to? Immigration

is a key issue, and her what is discussed his key. The word has

become negative, and people have genuine concerns and we need to

listen to that. Nine times out of 10 it is about jobs, housing, the

issues that affect their lives. Unless we actually address those

issues and talked to the issues and an invalid, with real policies but

talk about making a difference -- laptop about making a difference,

that talk about the issues of jobs and social housing, it is a joke

that the Tories have got the economy under control. Debt is

rising, we are at low growth. Unless we address those issues,

people will be concerned. Immigration has been an issue, but

it is how we talk about a ton debated properly. It can become

destructive turning it into a negative. What have you got to

change and the Liberal Democrat? That issue came across a in our

area where we have a lot of housing coming, and a lot of people do

think that some of this is due to the fact that we have more people

coming into this country and all housing is for this. It is getting

the message across that this is not true. This was an anti- EU vote.

Yes, but it is about making sure people are aware of the issues and

that it is not just about loads of people swarming into this country

and taking jobs and benefits. It is not that message that we want to

get across, and making sure that we discuss housing and jobs, as people

think houses are being built where their are no jobs, so it is about

getting that right. Those are the concerns that we do not get the

infrastructure with the housing. have opened a debate. Previously if

you have spoken about immigration, all the other parties would have

said we are being racist. They have accepted that is not the case. The

second one is to get them to accept that without proper control, which

means leaving the EU, we will have no power over immigration from the

European Union. It is one of the fact that the European Union

insists it has control over EU immigration. Until we have that

fixed by leaving the EU, or at the very least giving people a chance

to say whether they want the EU to keep control of national borders or

restore it to Britain, and once more make Parliament worth the name.

What are you going to do with those councillors? You talk about

councillors and the EU, what will they actually do. We have an won

any councils. But we are a significant force on most of the

councils. We are going to look to see where taxpayers' money is spent,

where local people's money is spent, and we are going to make sure they

get the best value. This is nothing to do with immigration or EU.

it impacts completely on the work are counselled us because it needs

extra costs and services. Such as the translation services in the

local councils, they spent �43 million last year on translation

services. But councillors did not even turn up to the count, and you

would admit that some of those paper candidates have been elected,

replacing hard-working local councillors who did things for the

local community and took decisions, this could be dangerous. It does

not mean these people will not do so. It means they were not as

optimistic as others. Louise Goldsmith, not as optimistic. Are

you going to have a problem with these UKIP councillors looking at

ways and efficiency? A look at some of the policies in 2010, and said

she would bring down bureaucracy. We brought back down 30%. How much

as the chief executive paid? About �170,000. Would you vote on West

Sussex for the chief executives to be paid less? Of course. There are

10 she executives in councils across the country who are paid

more than Barack Obama, the leader of the free world. How can that be

right? If anyone says we need to pay the money to get the best

people, do not forget that councils are cutting wages and jobs of

people on the frontline, making them the apply for jobs. Why can we

not do the same for the people at the top? There is a difference

between what UKIP are as a party and what you have achieved than

done, and what people voted. We need to distinguish those. Where

people were voting, they were concerned about jobs and housing,

and they wanted to protest. But we have got to listen to that, and we

have got to listen to what those voters are telling us about the

issues they are living through, which is wrong because Tory

councils are being cut. Those cuts are coming through on libraries,

social services, education, all of the issues that are relevant. 150

youth workers were cut in Hampshire. Labour always says all of these

things, but you did not have give us a should problem when you left

government, which is what we are doing. We do not believe in using

taxpayers' money and creating jobs. We're going to build the economy to

get people and jobs there. It will take a long time to switch. People

were voting on this. Part-time jobs that do not pay enough, they need

help and support on. They are not full-time jobs with proper training.

But a lot of these are national issues. This is what the leaflet

that the Liberal Democrats traditionally put out in local

elections and national elections. Labour cannot win in the south of

England. You say this all the time. Now, it is not just a choice for a

protest vote, there is UKIP in the next. There is probably more Labour

as well. Going back to the question about UKIP councillors. We have not

got any. But they ran across the south of England. -- they are

across the south of England. Will you have to stop using these

charts? We will have to the address the issue. The important thing is...

The. Banning this is that the Lib Dems have picked up lots of anti-

Conservative votes across the board, but you have lost them now. Some

people were voting protest votes for UKIP, I agree. We will have to

address that. It is going back to what we said earlier, that we will

all have to look at this. The challenge in Oxfordshire is that

all of the UKIP councillors did not know the local issues. They

admitted to that. But people voted for them. But you said it could be

dangerous. I think it could be. Because they are not in a local

election looking at the local issues that matter most to people

in the area. They do not know what they are. I would like to pick up

what Zoe Patrick said. I was out a lot, Anne Jupp won 10 seats, but

there was people saying to me that I am fed up, I am voting UKIP. I

was asking them what it was that they were voting for, and they said

I am a Conservative but I am voting UKIP. It was a protest vote. Last

word to you, it's a protest vote. We got 27% in the south of England,

so they were doing something very wrong. They have not listen to the

people, and the people have spoken. All of a sudden, they are listening

now, now is too late. Thank you very much, all of you. Now, a

round-up of the political week in On the beach in Sussex, Worthing's

new leisure centre opened. �20 million of the local council's

money splashed out to provide what they hope will be an iconic

building. If it is going to be good, it has to be a lot of money. Good

news for homeowners in Oxfordshire. The housing market is growing

faster than the rest of the country. Her house sold within a week.

much relief for first-time buyers. The average house price is nearly

quarter of a million pounds. The crime figures might be going down

by road rage on a mobility scooter is rising. There has been a 60%

rise in Dorset in the past three years. After all the protests of a

plant biomass plant in Southampton, residents have something else to

kick up a stink about. Developers now want to build a sulphur plant

half-a-mile the in the road. would like to know why it has got

to be built and Southampton. I am concerned about the smell.

-- in Southampton. All of the political analysis, we

forget those things that we have to get on and do in local and national

government. You have to find a leader on the UKIP grip on

Hampshire, and you were telling me you have 10 people. We will find a

group leader, we are having a meeting later this week where it

will be decided. It has to be done democratically. Zoe Patrick, what

do you get on and do, for stay back? With the new results for us,

we have got to look at what we are going to do next, which is really

important. The Tories have been ruling the roost for a long time.

Now there is a chance for other people to have their say. With no

overall control, that is difficult. What has happened in the past, they

have taken all the chairs of scrutiny, but that will now not

happen. They have been scrutinising themselves all this time. Now we

can do the job properly. Labour cannot get involved in much of

these discussions. Those groups will be having those conversations.

But there are not enough councillor has. We have 15 in Oxford. It is

Labour on other parties that make significant gains. I will give you

last word, least. Have you got to the end of your cuts programme in

West Sussex? We are on to the last phase. Men at his back to work.

Maybe those UKIP councillors will have some impact. I am sure they

will approve of a lot of the policies of saving money. OK. Maybe