So, why do I not feel more despondent?

Firstly, it is heartening to note that where we were able to place strong candidates and fund and resource a decent campaign, we found that our support held up. We placed second in wards where we might otherwise have been expected to win. Although we lost vote share, in our key wards it continues to be a two-way fight between us and Labour and that is down to the campaign we ran and the calibre of our candidates.

Secondly, there were a number of factors at work this year that meant that winning, and even holding our ground, would be a huge challenge. To some extent it is reassuring to know that the result is less to do with what we’ve done locally, than it is to do with the national picture.

It is generally acknowledged that in coalition the smaller party vote is often squeezed. The reasoning behind this is that the smaller partner shoulders the lion’s share of the blame (this is particularly true during times of austerity or depression where difficult decisions are common place) but is badly positioned to take credit for successes. This is absolutely the case with the Liberal Democrats: without our influence there would be no tax cut and the tuition fee policy would be much less inclusive, never mind our human rights successes and the new and ambitious green policy. Who knows what other decisions might have been made without Lib Dem ministers keeping a tight hold on Conservative reigns.

In addition, the smaller party in a coalition is often seen to prop up the larger party who failed to secure enough seats to govern in their own right. Liberal Democrats are suffering from just such an image problem. I believe that Labour feel that the Liberal Democrats should have sided with them against the Tories. There is an impression that, as Liberal Democrats, we are socialists by another name, but that simply isn’t true. We are a centralist party; some of policy pledges align broadly with the left and some align broadly with the right but some are entirely our own. It was never a foregone conclusion that we would go to the left (and this was stated many times during last year’s campaign) yet there is still bitterness among Labour supporters, campaigners and elite that some how, Liberal Democrats betrayed an implied trust. The unfortunate fact is that being a centralist party, we have long been a safe harbour for disaffected supporters of the right and the left: When a Labour voter is disillusioned they are unlikely to lend their support to the Conservatives and vice versa. Now that Labour are in opposition they are acceptable again and we have fallen out of favour.

The reasons for our defeat are all too obvious. The question now is simply ‘What Next?’

Tory supporters say that the Liberal Democrats should stay in coalition. Other supporters of other parties say that we should cut our losses and run. Many people, including some Liberal Democrats, suggest that we need to depose Nick Clegg from leadership of the party.

My first political concern (I have the luxury of not having to be more concerned about actual governance right now) is that we must absolutely avoid haemorrhaging any more council seats at next year’s election. I am not convinced that abandoning the coalition or Nick Clegg would do us any favours. A leadership challenge would show us to be weak and abandoning the coalition could make us appear indecisive. When you further consider the political climate in which we find ourselves, the fact that we have no support in the national media and we are already facing an angry and aggressive opposition, we are damned if we do and damned if we don’t. This means that the only realistic option is to continue and forge ahead. What we must do as a party is to succeed in making our case more effectively. It is imperative that we get our message across and identify to the public and the media the good we are doing in parliament. That means that sometimes we have to criticise our coalition partners (something which I believe Nick Clegg and the party senior have been afraid to do in the past).

Locally, we must work even harder to improve our neighbourhoods and to lift the profile of our councillors and campaigners. With less councillors in the chamber, it will be all the more difficult to have an impact on council policy but that doesn’t mean we should stop; it means we will have to make more of an effort. We have a steeper hill to climb for the foreseeable future, but that doesn’t mean we will disappear. I am eager to get moving and keep some of the momentum of this year’s campaign and I appreciate the supporter of local residents and would like to thank the voters and those that supported us this year. That is why I’m not more depressed about the result. There is work to be done and we are prepared to do it.

It’s a sad truth that the fine weather has brought out the rowdy element in my local neighbourhood. Several days and nights in recent weeks we have been plagued by the throaty roar of off-road bikes and quad bikes, either racing up and down our streets or racing around our local park. This activity is an irritation (the noise echoes around terraced streets like a banshee wail) but it is also reckless and dangerous. These bikes are not road legal, which means they are not insured. If one of them hits your car or some other property, the repair cost will be left up to you, not the irresponsible individual that caused the damage. As they are designed for off-road use they often have non-standard tyres that are not necessarily suitable for use on a road surface and they invariably have no mirrors or headlights. At night, in the park, the bikes are impossible to see, and the riders themselves can’t see anything either, which makes their behaviour all the more frightening.

During the course of the past couple of weeks, we have always made a point to report activity like this to the police using the Police Non-Emergency telephone number. We don’t expect that anyone will be caught – I admit that it would be almost sheer luck if a vehicle was in the area at the time and able to stop the rider and seize the bike – but it identifies the problems and lets the police know where the issues are happening. With this information in hand the police can direct their resources more effectively and maybe the next time there will be a vehicle in the area.

As if proof were ever needed that this principle works, while I was out tonight, I met some of out community police officers in the park. In response to the problems of the last few weeks, they have been able to send a couple of bobbies on bicycles up to the park, acting as a deterrent and improving the likelihood of catching someone in the act. When I met them, they were chatting to a group of older teenagers who sometimes use the park to hangout. No-one was doing anything wrong on this occasion, but it’s great to see action being taken.

So, the moral of the story: if you have problems in your area that requires police assistance, you need to let them know about it. The best way to do that is to call the Police Non-Emergency number, which is 0161 872 5050 (at least it is for Salford!) or go to community committee meetings, where there will usually be an officer or two in attendance. Our police service is an asset and I’d like to thank our local policing team for all their efforts to date.

Representatives of the French Government have said that the new law has been introduced to protect minorities. Sihem Habchi, a Muslim woman that has worked on introducing the ban has been reported to say “Five years ago hardly anyone wore the Niqab [full length garment that conceals everything except the eyes]. In another five years we will be like England where there are neighbourhoods and ghettos full of women wearing them.” To me, this statement seems to reveal an underlying fear that women who choose to wear the veil are creating a problem for all Muslims. This kind of irrationality should never been translated into law. The French Government says that the veil relegates wearers to an inferior status. However, I argue that inferiority is not a matter of what a woman choose to wear, it is a matter of how other people choose to treat her. When I see a woman in the street that is wearing a Burka or Niqab I do not view her with fear and do not feel that I am better than her. I see a woman demonstrating a commitment to her religious beliefs. I see a woman that is proud to be a Muslim and proud of that part of her culture.

In my eyes there is little difference between wearing a Niqab and wearing a cross or wearing Jewish yamaka. By identifying yourself with one of these symbols, you open yourself to the possibility of criticism, victimisation and attack. By identifying yourself as different you risk attracting the scorn of others, but are you at fault for wearing the garment? No!

By introducing this law, the French hope to engineer a more equal society but what is more important; an ‘equal’ society where equality means everyone must dress and act the same way, or an inclusive and free society where people can dress as they please and observe their religion as they see fit. One of these two societies reminds me an awful lot of a certain novel by George Orwell.