The battle for Sheffield

Sheffield City Council has a third of its seats up for election on May 5. The Lib Dems are currently in power but only by the most fragile margin. They have 41 councillors while Labour have 40. There are a couple of Greens. At the moment there are no Conservative councillors although we are fielding a full slate of candidates.

Given the state of the opinion polls it would seem highly likely that Labour will gain control. Indeed were they not to gain it that would be real upset. So far as Sheffield is concerned I'm not sure what difference it would make. As I've written before this is a Council which is more Socialist  than the Socialists - with the highest Council Tax in SouthYorkshire. However the Lib Dem Council leader Cllr Paul Scriven has shown some sense in refusing to sign the suicidal letter to The Times from Lib Dem councillors blaming the Government for the cuts. They have also avoided making the cuts on front line services. Do Sheffield voters want to take the risk as to whether Labour would do the same?

What chances have the Conservatives of gaining a seat? There are some wards where we are in second place to the Lib Dems. Dore and Totley is an example where Labour are in a distant third place. So if the Lib Dem vote really collapses then we might have a chance.