Liberal Democrats top Chesterfield and Staveley polls again.

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 8th Jun 2009

Local Liberal Democrats once again topped the European polls in Chesterfield and Staveley as they did in 2004.

They also topped the local County Council polls as they did in 2005, increasing their lead in 4 of the 5 County Council seats the Liberal Democrats hold and coming within a hairs breadth of capturing two more seats out of the 4 that Labour still hold.

Local MP Paul Holmes said:

"Last Thursday was a very bad day for Labour across the country as a whole and here in Derbyshire. In Chesterfield their share of the local vote fell from 43.6% in the 2005 County Council elections to just 36.4% last week. This is lowest point for them in history here in Chesterfield and Staveley. The Liberal Democrats increased their lead over Labour from 2.9% in 2005 to 7.1% today. The Conservatives remained firmly in a low third place in the Chesterfield and Staveley area and hold no Council seats at all."

"In Staveley South (former), County Council Leader John Williams saw his 1,173 majority slashed to just 76 by Liberal Democrat Paul Mann. In Spire Ward the Labour Cllr had their majority cut from 250 to a 162 and in Birdholme Labour's lead was cut by over 5%. Third place Conservative votes in Staveley South allowed Labour to hang on to the seat (Labour 1,636, Liberal Democrat 1,560, Conservative 484) and the same was true in Spire Ward (Labour 1,480, Liberal Democrat 1,318, Conservative 441) and in Birdholme."

"The public mood is absolutely clear. This entirely discredited Labour Government, with or without a new leader, should call a General Election immediately."