The local elections will be held on May 3rd, 2018 when 1/3rd of Sheffield's city council seats will be up for election, that's 28 out of a total of 84 seats. The current make up of the council has the Labour party on 56 seats resulting in an a commanding majority of 28. Which has allowed the Labour council to basically do whatever they want to do in the city as it is impossible for the 28 opposition councilors to even come close to out voting Labour in the council chamber.

However, with 19 Labour seats up for election on May 3rd, then a collapse in the Labour vote could see Labours majority wiped out, by potentially falling from 56 to 37 seats. Of course even with the tree protests such an outcome is still a very low probability event. So the worst that Labour can expect on May 3rd is the loss of 10 seats which means in a worse case scenario the Labour party will still manage to retain control of the council on a much reduced majority of just 8. Which would still allow the Labour party to basically get away with anything, that is until the next local election in May 2019 when there is a strong probability that the Labour party could lose overall control of Sheffield city council.

Whilst the key beneficiaries on May 3rd are likely to be the green party that could see their number of councilors double from 4 to 8, with the balance of Labour losses going to the Liberal Democrat. Another party likely to suffer losses are UKIP that could lose 2 of their 4 council seats.

Sheffield Local Election Forecast 2018

	2016	2018 Forecast
Labour	56	47
Lib Dem	20	28
UKIP	4	3
Green	4	8
Con	0	0
Other	0	0

So unfortunately for those who love Sheffield's street trees, May 3rd is unlikely to bring an end to Sheffield's tree fellings rampage which has just been put on pause for electoral purposes and thus the fellings and protests are expected to resume on Monday May 7th. A protest movement that has grown to to in excess of 10,000 people, many of whom attended a protest rally outside Sheffield City Hall on the 7th of April 2018 where Pulp front man Jarvis Cocker addressed a estimated crowd of 3000 at the "Get Off My Tree!" protest.

The "Get Off My Tree!" Sheffield anti-trees felling protest of 7th April 2018 started as a march from Sheffield city hall and around the city centre.

And here is an election broadcast for Sheffield's tree party (all those who oppose the Labour councils tree felling programme).

Whilst here is a taste from just ONE of the many streets effected (Abbeydale Park Rise) of why thousands of Sheffielders are protesting against the felling of healthy street trees.

Undoubtedly once the local elections are over then the sound of protests vs chainsaws by the councils contractor Amey and its minions such as Acorn will once more echo on the streets of Sheffield.

More videos that illustrate what has taken place on Abbeydale Park Rise in the name of the Labour council's PFI contract.

Here Arb's butchered several of Abbeydale Park Rise's Christmas light Cherry tree's, as a bitter Christmas present for the streets residents.

Meanwhile South Yorkshire Police were deployed to snatch protestors off the street.

https://youtu.be/hb_WGPOIEQg

The bottom line is that it is not in the best interests of Sheffield for one party to hold such a large majority in council seats as it allows insane things to be done to the city such as the target to fell half of Sheffield's street trees.

By N Walayat

http://www.walayatfamily.com

Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any trading losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors before engaging in any trading activities.

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