As Plymouth has cast its vote in the local elections last week (2nd of May 2019), Labour seems to be the big winner, holding all of their seats and gaining a seat in the Peverell Ward.
But the big surprise was the close battle between ex-Councillor Steve Ricketts and current Councillor Chaz Singh. Steve Ricketts was taken down in 2018 by Margaret Corvid (we wrote about it at the time: https://www.plymouthguide.co.uk/mainpage/the-future-of-plymouth ). At the time, Mr. Ricketts was part of the Conservative Party, but since he lost his seat he has left the Tories. He stood this year as an independent, and we all know that independent candidates have slim chances of winning against a candidate backed by a party like Labour, who provides their people with endless resources, such as funds for printing thousands of flyers, canvassers to knock on doors and deliver said flyers, and other ways of convincing voters to choose Labour.
Still, Steve Ricketts proved that the people remembered his great work in the Drake Ward, by raking in 846 votes, as opposed to Chaz Singh's 859 votes. We believe this is a magnificent achievement, living up to the comparison to the Biblical fight between young David and the Philistine giant Goliath. We hope that Mr. Ricketts will continue his fight and regain his rightful place. Wether he will wait for 2022, when a Drake Ward seat will be up for grabs again, or focus on another ward, we don't know and frankly, we don't think he knows yet. Rumors are that a recently formed party is looking to support him if he decides to stand next year.
We wish Mr. Ricketts best of luck with whatever he decides to do next, and appreciate his work for our great city and for its lovely Plymothians.