Have just seen this very interesting post on the Sheffield Hallam page of the UK Polling Report blog. It purports to be from a certain Sir Irvine Patnick whom you may remember as the former Tory MP for Sheffield Hallam:

"As a former MP for this constituency, it is interesting how the electorate has changed quite significantly in this constituency even in the last 10 years. Whereas in 1997 there was a strong anti-Conservative swing nationally, and a particularly strong Lib Dem campaign, where the Labour vote actually fell, there has been no evidence to suggest that the Conservatives are in any better position here than they were in 1997- in fact our vote has fallen even further.

"I do firmly believe that there has been a recent demographic shift here from the ‘old money’ that got me elected in 1987, to a substantial public sector proportion of the electorate who feel naturally inclined to the Liberals. Whether or not the Conservatives can reverse their downward trend remains to be seen, but I doubt I will live to see this seat elect another Conservative. Both Richard Allan and Nick Clegg have managed to cultivate a strong personal following in Hallam, something which is hard to break when their party has never been in office and is thus totally unaccountable."

Nice bitter parting shot there!

It may also interest readers to note that another commenter on the blog has confirmed that Tory Mike Waters will be stepping down from his council seat in Dore this may. I'll pass no comment on the alleged reasons for his retirement at this stage!

Apparently.

*waits with bated breath for the Sheffield Star's take on this...*

Have just stumbled across some figures on the the Local Government website that relate to Sheffield. According to the latest satisfaction ratings, only 49% of people are satisfied with the overall service provided by Labour-run Sheffield City Council.

Compare this with Lib Dem-run Newcastle where the rating is a healthy 64% - well above the national average.

Who knew that selling of their schools and closing their roads would make people unhappy?

You can sign our petition against the closure of Wisewood School by going to www.savewisewood.com.

Have just heard through the grapevine that there was another Lib Dem amendement on the schools issue at Full Council yesterday. Basically, we were supporting the idea of two small schools on the Wisewood and Myers Grove sites. Once again, all three of Labour's Hillsborough councillors voted it down.

This is despite more warm words in public meetings suggesting that certain of them were opposed to the plans!

One wonders how long they can keep up this utter contempt for the people that voted for them in the first place...