Sandsfield East Byelection- No Change.

The Sandsfield East Byelection  saw Labour comfortably retain  their seat on Neath Port Talbot council

October 17th  2013
Lab 718 (59.7; +29.5)
Port Talbot Residents Association 222 (18.5; +18.5)
UKIP 154 (12.8; +12.8)
Plaid Cymru 69 (5.7; +5.7)
Con 40 (3.3; +3.3)
[Ind (0.0; -18.0)[
[Neat Port Talbot Independents (0.0; -19.4)]
[Ind (0.0; -32.4)]
Majority 496
Turnout 23.2%
Lab hold

The previous election saw the election of one Independent and 2 Labour which has been the case at least  since 2004

Independent Lella Helen James often frustrating Labour by topping the poll . They have managed to keep the  Other Seat even at the hight of Labours unpopularity

Only Neath and Port Talbot ever offer any real alternative but its embarrassing for Plaid and the Conservatives to come behind Ukip

But Neat Port Talbot is a peculiar council.in that there is no real main opposition part with different Parties clustered in different part of the county.

arty	Seats	Hold	Gain	Loss	Net Gain
Labour	52	35	17	2	15
Conservative	0	0	0	0	0
Liberal Democrat	0	0	0	4	-4
Plaid Cymru	8	7	1	4	-3
Neath Port Talbot Independents	0	0	0	3	-3
Social Democratic Party	1	1	0	2	-2
Independent	3	2	1	4	-3

Plaid for Instance are concentrated in the North West of the County. So they  probably had low expectation in Sandsfield East ,.but if they are to progress they need to do better in areas like this.

But for now its the Status Quo in Neath Port Talbot which was to be expected but as the council cuts start digging deeper. Iit will be interesting . How the 10 councils in Wales that Labour are in overall control can blame these savage cuts on the Westminster government  and retain electoral support..

Or will the nature of these cuts an example of which I hope to give tomorrow lead to public wrath against them. 
P.S. 11:0 AM Plaid in Wrecsam have announced County councillor Keith Gregory formally a Independent has joined Plaid ..