‘Sympathy vote’ for Tories as cuts bite

Robert Semple, regional chairman of the Yorkshire Conservatives, admitted his party would do well to maintain their vote share given the fragile state of the economy and cuts to the public sector.

But, he added, despite the swingeing cuts to spending that have already put thousands out of work in Yorkshire, voters in the region had sympathy and understood why the savings were being made.

Tensions within the coalition have boiled over in recent weeks with both the local elections and the referendum on voting reform taking place on May 5.

Some Lib Dem activists have privately admitted they fear their vote will collapse following the furore over tuition fees and public spending cuts. However, Mr Semple refused to be drawn on whether his party was actively trying to capitalise on that.

Should there be a backlash, the Tories could take majority control of Harrogate and Ryedale, where they run minority administrations and their only challenges are the Lib Dems.

In Calderdale the Lib Dems run a minority administration, but the Tories have the most seats and would need a further six to assume majority control.

The party is unlikely to lose power in any of the eight councils in the region they run, the majority are rock solid safe seats and bar a remarkable landslide in Selby – where they hold a 21-seat lead over Labour – they are only challenged by the struggling Lib Dems.

“The coalition will continue after this election and after the referendum on AV,” Mr Semple said. “But we are two different parties – different manifestos and different principles – and that will always be reflected when it comes to elections.

“We are not targeting councils. I don’t make predictions. The overall target is to get the message across about why we are having to do what we are doing with the economy and why it is in the best interests of the country.

“From a national perspective it was a very brave decision to form a coalition government, putting the national interest above party politics.”

Mr Semple hit back at accusations that his party has favoured the South when distributing public funding, following a sixth-month study from the independent think tank the Smith Institute, in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Newcastle University, which claimed the North will suffer greater cuts and more job losses as a result of the Government’s “blind regional policies”.

And Paul Blomfield, the Labour MP for Sheffield Central, said this week the Government’s priorities were made clear when they chose to administer the biggest cuts to local government to the councils in the North, while Dorset council received the best settlement.

Mr Semple said the reduction in town hall budgets was equal “across the country” and said people understood why such drastic measures had to happen.

“This is a difficult year,” he said. “The coalition Government had to make some difficult decisions to get the public finances in order.”