WHOEVER coined the phrase 'politics is power' knew their onions, that's for sure.
Here in West Lancs, that phrase started to manifest itself in the local Conservative Party which is having a bit of an issue on policy direction.
As I've revealed in this week's Advertiser (page 3), there's growing calls from the party's 'young guns' for a more radical agenda. Their argument is that with now having secured a comfortable majority of 12 seats, the party can really now kick back and introduce some eye-catching initiatives - something which is being resisted by the 'old guard'.
One insider tells me that it's been going on for a while, but the mutterings have now started outside the walls of Ormskirk's Tory HQ.
Apparently though, there's still a great deal of support for leader Geoff Roberts who admitted this week that this is probably his toughest spell since taking over as party leader seven years ago.
When I contacted Cllr Roberts he seemed fairly pragmatic about the whole situation and had the air of a man who wasn't frightened of being challenged. He strongly believes that elections are only won from the so-called centre ground and that's where he's determined to pitch his tent. He's also worried that the 'free-thinking' that's going on may alienate voters.
It's a tough call as election results are often over-interpreted. A resounding win for an incumbent adminstration may be a sign to some as "carry on in the same vein" but to others it's a case of "great, but now we want more".
Trouble is, they'll never know which one it really is until it's too late - i.e. when the votes are being counted.
Power struggles are nothing new; West Lancs Labour Party have had - and continue to have - their own internal difficulties. There's been a general feeling that some people aren't towing the line but I understand leader Terry Rice is getting ready to tell his troops a few home truths.
To some extent, the Labour predicament is more pressing because they really need to sort things out because the road back to power is going to be a long one.
However, whereas Labour's plight isn't going to affect anyone but Labour, the Conservative issue could actually directly impact on the tax-paying public, purely because they hold office.
Personally, I'd be surprised if Cllr Roberts' wasn't still occupying the council leader's office this time next year... but by the same token I've learnt that in politics you have to expect the unexpected.
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