LOCAL ELECTIONS 2018: Labour vows to bounce back after election loss in Amber Valley

Labour's leader in Amber Valley has expressed his disappointment at the outcome of Thursday's election, but remains optimistic about his party's chances next year.
Councillor Chris Emmas-Williams, who represents Codnor and Waingroves and is Labour leader on Amber Valley Borough CouncilCouncillor Chris Emmas-Williams, who represents Codnor and Waingroves and is Labour leader on Amber Valley Borough Council
Councillor Chris Emmas-Williams, who represents Codnor and Waingroves and is Labour leader on Amber Valley Borough Council

Councillor Chris Emmas-Williams, who represents Codnor and Waingroves, said that next year’s election will feature 14 seats held by the Conservatives and just one held by Labour, which he feels gives them scope for a comeback.

He said that this year was always going to be a bit of an uphill struggle, due to defending 10 seats compared to the Tories’ five.

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The end was result was three gains for the Conservatives and one for Labour, leaving the Tories with 25 seats and Labour with 20.

Mr Emmas-Williams said: “It’s a really gutting result. I am very disappointed.

“I thought that the electorate would see that we had put forward a solid plan for the future and good proposals, but clearly they don’t think so.

“A lot of the information that the Conservatives put out during their campaign was untrue, the claims they made about Labour were false.

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“We have lost some really good councillors as a result of this vote and they’ll be sorely missed.

“Next year we have every chance of bouncing back, there’ll be 14 Tory seats and just one of ours.

“It was always going to be difficult, but we’ll be back next year to take control, definitely.”

Despite a good showing by the Green Party in Duffield, the authority continues to be a two-party affair.

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