Competition: Bargain Max says it was inspired by Tiger Patel s campaign A TOY company says that it has been inspired by recently elected Councillor Altaf Tiger Patel s campaign to launch a children s playground design competition. Bargain Max says that watching Councillor Patel highlight the poor state of the playground in Audley and Queen s Park last month helped the company come up with the idea of giving children in Blackburn the chance to draw up their ideal playground. The competition is open to children up to the age of 16, who will be in with a chance of winning a year’s supply of free toys along with an architect’s 3D model of the playground design.
Labour s Maryam Batan and new councillor Altaf Tiger Patel An outgoing councillor has spoken out at accusations that local councils were responsible for funding cuts in neighbourhoods. In what turned out to be Blackburn with Darwen’s most hotly contested ward – Audley and Queen’s Park - Labour’s Maryam Batan lost to Conservative candidate Tiger Patel by just 113 votes. Tiger Patel s campaign video went viral last week as it was shared across the UK. Maryam said: “I’ve really enjoyed my three years as a Labour councillor where I was made to feel part of the Labour Party family. A large number of councillors and party members came out to support me during the recent election and, at some stage in the future, I would be proud to stand again for the Labour Party as a candidate.”
Election highlights: the results and controversies you may have missed
We all know we finally have a female combined authority mayor and that Andy Burnham and Andy Street retained their mayoral roles – but you may have missed some of the details of last Thursday s polls.
Here’s the LGC ‘best of the rest’, featuring some of the other highlights brought to you by our live election blog.
Tories take Southampton
The Conservatives gained seven seats to hold 25 of Southampton City Council’s 48 seats, with Labour on 23.
Conservatives make inroads in Rotherham
The Tories came from nowhere – they had no seats before – to become a serious rival to Labour in the South Yorkshire metropolitan borough. The new chamber has 20 Conservatives and 32 Labour councillors.