Jo and I are off to Kefalonia to enjoy the sunshine for a week, so you won’t hear from me for a while. Thanks for all the congratulations posted here or texted and emailed to me over the past day or so. Being a councillor starts properly on Monday 15th May with my first area committee at 6pm. In the meantime, take care.

Good and bad news. Unbelieveably, Ruth Kelly is the new Cabinet-level minister for women, but at least Meg Munn is finally getting a salary as her deputy. I do get irritated - we have so many feminist Labour women who are solid on the issues and get why the ministers for women are practically and symbolically important, but still we get two of the least inspiring ones in these jobs… oh well.

Today’s Guardian:

Andrew Smith, the soft-spoken and uncharismatic former work and pensions secretary, is not normally the type to be cast as the assassin, even if he represents the rougher eastern end of Oxford.

But yesterday he became the most serious figure inside the parliamentary party to call on Tony Blair to stand aside. Mr Smith, who was in the cabinet for five years until 2004, is extremely close to Gordon Brown and has so far remained publicly loyal to Mr Blair. [...]

The words from Mr Smith are unmistakable in intent. He told the Guardian: “I have spent hours and hours on the doorstep, many of them previous loyal Labour voters saying ‘not this time’. And it is not just because of recent events - obviously they have an impact. The difference is there is a weakness of trust, a trust that in the past has seen the government through the difficult times. There is a feeling that people feel let down.

“It is absolutely clear that we need to rebuild for the future, not just up to the next election, but where we go over the next 10 years, how we translate our values to polices. And I believe we cannot get on with that process of rebuilding while the leadership issue is in the air. The prime minister has promised an orderly transition and I believe we need to see the timetable for that sooner rather than later. I think that is in the interests of the country as well as the party.”

Asked what sooner or later meant, Mr Smith said “as soon as possible”, rejecting the suggestion that Mr Blair could wait until the annual party conference in Manchester in October.

“What is gained by waiting? The sooner Labour MPs know where they are, the issue of uncertainty can be got out of the way. The uncertainty gets worse with every month that passes. It reinforces that lack of trust. The cabinet reshuffle, for instance, raises the question ‘is this an indication of how long he intends to go on?’ There is is an impatience out there on the doorstep to know where we are.”

Mr Smith continued: “You cannot put the problems down to issues like John Prescott any more than you can solve it by a reshuffle. The problem also lies in Tony Blair. Many Labour voters looked me in the eye and said as much.”

I’m really glad that my MP has finally used his former position and status in the party to make this point.

This isn’t going to be a councillor-blog. Local news and views from your two (!) Labour councillors for RH&I will go on www.oxfordlabour.org.uk.

But the morning after, indulge the novice councillor, excited and a little scared.

Here’s my ward (I still can’t get used to that - I keep saying “the ward I’m campaigning for”, the ward I hope to represent”!):

Pretty, isn’t it? But you can’t tell much from an ariel photo. So here’s a map with lines drawn to show the informal distinctions of the ward:

To the east is the area of private semi-detached houses known in estate agent-speak as “Iffley Borders”. To the south is the medium-size estate of council housing, with some right-to-buy and some private rented houses. And to the north is Iffley Village, the picture-postcard village served by a noted Norman church with the river Thames at its edge.

Looking at the ACORN classifications, the differences are even more stark.

Iffley Borders:

Residents are mostly in their 20s and early 30s. They are well qualified, usually to A-level and degree standard. The older individuals in this type are often already in successful professional and managerial careers. Others are in lower managerial roles, as well as clerical occupations. Some work in the education and healthcare sectors. [...] Their preferred newspapers are The Guardian, Independent and Observer. They are likely to have cable TV and are keen on exercise and sport as well as theatre, music and the arts.

Iffley Village:

This type of postcode encompasses the most affluent people in the UK. They live in wealthy, high status suburban and semi-rural neighbourhoods, particularly in the Home Counties. Most are highly qualified professionals, senior executives and business owners, often in their 40s and 50s.
They tend to live in large detached houses with four or more bedrooms, many of which are owned outright. These households often have more than two cars, at least one of which is likely to be a high value company car.
There is a high level of readership of the Financial Times as well as the other quality broadsheets.

Rose Hill:

These are some of the poorest young families in the country. They have exceptionally high numbers of children and a very young age profile. The level of single parents is three times the national average.
Housing is mainly three bedroom terraces, or sometimes semis, rented from the council. For the larger families, this means some overcrowding.
Unemployment is very high with a significant number of young people never having worked. With many single parents not working, the number of wage earners is low and so, inevitably, are incomes. A number of households are in debt.

Needless to say, most of my vote came from the estate, with a good share from the borders, and the few Labour diehards from the village.

Bloody hell - I fall asleep for eight hours and wake up to Charles Clarke being sacked!

So far - Ruth Kelly no longer at education but has local government, hurrah.
Hazel Blears, David Miliband and Jacqui Smith in the cabinet for something
The first woman Foreign Secretary - Margaret Beckett
Hillary Benn stays where he is
John Reid is the new Home Secretary
Jack Straw is leader of the house

My predictions (some wishful) weren’t too far out…

Hello friends,

Rose Hill and Iffley ward
electorate 4095, votes cast 1509 (36.85%)

Antonia BANCE - Labour - 727
Chris BONES - Liberal Democrat - 343
Timothy BENJAMIN - Conservative - 230
Simon BROOK - Green - 199

And overall a good night for us in Oxford city. We lost five seats and won one, so net down four. The scores on the doors are Lib Dems 19, Labour 17, Green 8 and IWCA 4.