Once again, as we go to the polls, the time has come to decide who will represent the people of Tadley & Baughurst on Hampshire County Council. In the next few weeks, leaflets will come through your door promising more school places, better public transport, a new waste tip, lower speed limits, more youth facilities and to deal with all of the pot holes in the roads. Those seeking your cross in their box on May 2nd will also not be shy to claim the credit for everything from better street lighting to giving us Tadley Swimming Pool. For reasons that I will explain, making promises and claiming the credit for things that would have happened anyway is total nonsense and an insult to the intelligence of us, the electorate.
Firstly, as a Councillor in any of the main political parties, you are bound by allegiance to your party. Regardless of what is best for your community, you are expected to toe the party line, speaking and voting for party policy. I should know; last year when I dared to speak out about the risks to our communities that national and local Conservative planning policy was creating, they first tried to rubbish my claims, when that failed, they tried to offer me incentives and finally the bully boys began to make thinly veiled threats about my future as a Councillor and candidate for other national and local elections. As a result, I followed a fellow Councillor who was also bullied for standing up for her community and left the Conservative party.
Secondly, Councillors exist to represent their communities and although we can influence decisions being made about priorities and spending, these decisions are taken by an executive Cabinet made up from members of the largest political group in the Council. So to promise anything without it first being agreed and voted on by the Council is at best absurd and at worst downright dishonest. The same goes for any Councillor that claims the credit for new speed limits, better sports facilities or anything else delivered locally by Councils.
As a local Councillor, I see these games being played out daily in the Council chamber, committee rooms and in the newspapers. I believe however that the current economic situation and threats to the environment are now so serious that the time for party politics has to end and that the Hampshire County Council elections on 2nd May could be the most important local election in a generation. The next four years are going to see deep cuts that affect everything from education to leisure and social services to transport. Decisions will be made on who receives help and who doesn’t and who pays full Council Tax and who gets concessions. The most vulnerable will be the young and those on fixed incomes such as pensioners.
For these reasons, I have decided to throw my hat into the ring. So if you live in Tadley or Baughurst, I may be one of those knocking on your door and I will drop a leaflet through your letterbox but one thing is for sure; there will be no promises of things that I cannot possibly deliver and no claims that things that I had an influence in were delivered by myself singlehandedly. Instead, I will offer my time and energy doing what I have done for the past ten years; defending our communities from cuts and unsustainable development while campaigning for a fair share of the budget and better amenities, schools, transport and facilities. I will stand by my track record as an effective local representative who gets things done through the process of campaigning, debate, persuasion and negotiation. That’s all a local representative can do and if anyone, even by implication, says otherwise, they are misleading you and insulting your intelligence.
Ah, but aren’t you one of these politicians? I hear you ask. Of course I’m a politician! The public discussion and debate about how resources are used and what the local priorities should be is by definition a political process. That’s the true definition of politics which is often confused by what we understand as party politics which is what I believe we need less of.
But you’re in UKIP, I hear you shout. Yes I am and I’m not going to apologise for standing up against the wholesale waste that goes on in Brussels or the way in which the state seems to encroach more and more into our everyday lives. These debates are for another day; the election on 2nd May is about local communities, local issues and local services. UKIP has a straightforward approach to Local Government and Communities set out in a manifesto that I am happy to send you or you can click here to download the UKIP Local Elections 2013 manifesto from this website. The difference between the growing number of UKIP Councillors in the UK and the rest is that UKIP Councillors aren't expected to toe party lines. There are no UKIP bully boys in town halls up and down the country and UKIP Councillors are free to act in the best interests of the communities that they serve. Therefore, as your County Councillor, I will be free to serve YOU and the best interests of your community and work for Tadley & Baughurst rather than a political master. If elected, I will serve you independently on Hampshire County Council in the same was as I serve my ward independently on Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council.
To those of you who traditionally vote for one of the traditional political parties rather than on local issues or personal preference but are dissatisfied with the status quo, I have one simple message. On 2nd May, please lend me your vote on this occasion and send a clear signal to those who put party loyalty before their communities that enough is enough.
I hope you will consider the local issues and who will best represent your community.
Let battle be joined!
Friday, May 3, 2013 at 3:23AM 