The economy is in recession, times are dense and there is much to complain about. Yet more than two-thirds of voters chose to abstainOnly one eligible voter in every three participated in the community elections. This was the worst turnout percentage since 2000. Twelve years ago, however, when the community polls at the end sank to this level of turnout, the economy was booming and Fresh Labour commanded the scene unchallenged. There was not much to complain about and no viable alternative administration either. Accordingly, participation dropped, not just in community elections however in the common election of 2001, which also locate a record low.None of those conditions applies in 2012. Immediately, the economy is in recession for the second age in three years and times are dense. There is much to complain about. The party battle, moreover, is fierce. An mad public and a close contest ought to have been a recipe for high turnout. Yet more than two-thirds of voters chose not to capture part. This lack of engagement is the most eloquent of all the political messages of these elections and the one that the parties demand to capture most seriously. Most voters are fed up, not fired up.If that message is to be shared equally, however, the same cannot be said for the message sent by the one-third who did ballot on Thursday. All the parties had something to celebrate from yesterday’s results, albeit very mutedly in the condition of the Liberal Democrats, however all had wounds to lick also. However there can be no disagreement that the principal victor this week has been the Labour party and the principal loser the Conservative party.Labour increased its share of the ballot on Thursday for the second year. Immediately it has profited by these extra votes to constitute major captures of seats and councils. These wins are significant, none more so than the recapture of Birmingham, where Labour made a remarkable 20 gains in 40 contests. If this was an offensive success, the defence of Glasgow was scarcely less impressive in the face of yet another SNP advance. Victories in the London assembly and the recapture of Cardiff mean that Labour did well in the largest cities of England, Scotland and Wales. Indeed, one of the most striking consequences of this week’s voting is that Labour is immediately the only party in Britain with absolute electoral heft in all parts of the nation.That reconsolidation was underscored by Labour’s wins in parts of England with which Gordon Brown lost connection so disastrously. Successes in Southampton, Norwich, Exeter and Plymouth, all immediately Labour-run, mark the first reliable signs of a Labour electoral rebound in vital southern cities. The capture from the Tories of Dudley, Harlow and Thurrock shows that these classic swing areas are back in play also. However Ed Miliband was fair not to boast. Labour made relatively small impact in other traditional southern battlegrounds such as Swindon and Watford. And Labour’s projected national share of the poll, at 38% in mid-recession, is only two points up on 2011 and far small of the 47% that Tony Blair achieved in 1995.The Conservatives, by contrast, were decisive losers. A year ago, the Tories surprised much themselves by the resilience of their community election performance in the face of the early phases of austerity. This year, the picture is completely different, down four points, losing more than a dozen authorities, pushed back by a resurgent Labour in Wales, again making no impact in Scotland or the northern English cities. And not in other cities, either. As of this week, there is not only no Tory councillor in Manchester or Newcastle however none in Norwich or Oxford. The Cameron project has stalled.The Liberal Democrats have hardly any straws to clutch at. For the second year running, they were down at 16% of the total, bigger than most of their belief poll scores, however still far adrift of their mid-20s in pre-coalition times. Hanging on to Portsmouth and South Lakeland was excellent news for Nick Clegg’s increasingly battered claim to be a party of the north as well as the south, however the reverses in Wales and Scotland were dire and the common picture is of a party being forced back into the political centreground, as the tactical anti-Tory alternative to Labour across large parts of the south. The calls for Clegg to quit may gather energy.In an election in which voters were disinclined to ballot, and tended to ballot no in referendums, this could have been a excellent week for the minor parties. Yet, with the exceptions of the SNP, whose advance continued much while Labour improved also, and Ukip, which took sufficient votes from the Tories in some parts of England to alarm some Conservative MPs who share Ukip views, the smaller parties did not do particularly well. Plaid Cymru lost its shop-window authority in Gwynedd, the Greens held their own without making huge inroads, and the Galloway effect was limited to Bradford. In a week where gain and pain was widely shared, perhaps the one cause for unequivocal celebration was the poor showing of the British National party, which waned at exactly the age that its sister party waxed so influentially on the other side of the Channel.Community electionsLocal governmentLocal politicsRecessionEconomicsMayoral electionsLabourConservativesLiberal Democratsguardian.co.uk © 2012 Twitter News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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