I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together. But I’m even more focused on what comes next: continuing to rebuild our finances, unlocking further investment, improving our town centre, and making sure every part of Croydon shares in our recovery.
Ultimately councils need to remember that it is they who serve local residents and taxpayers, not the other way around.
Croydon’s recovery depends on strong high streets, and strong high streets depend on the small businesses that bring life, colour, and hope to our towns.
People don’t want excuses. They want action: fix the pothole, clean the graffiti, tackle the fly-tipping, deal with antisocial behaviour. It might sound small to Westminster, but it isn’t small to residents.
Conservatives must earn their position to serve in Croydon, with tightly-fought elections. Labour expects to rule in Lambeth without any serious contest, getting away with ignoring local people and their legitimate concerns.
It is all too easy for local candidates to fall into the trap of wasting precious energy engaging in national debates. In reality, people care more about their waste collection and potholes.
Our investigation into occupancy rates at council buildings found that offices were only around 40 per cent full.
In Central Bedfordshire, Council Tax is being frozen. One reason is early intervention for elderly residents, delaying the point where they need to move into residential care.
Arun District Council has decided to invest almost £500,000 of local taxpayers’ money on a luxury bed and breakfast in the picturesque town of Arundel in West Sussex.
This included visits to some of the world’s most oppressive regimes, such as Cuba, China, and Russia. The very same Council that hosted COP26 and declared a climate emergency in May 2019.
Labour’s failures in our borough have been monumental. But our campaign was a positive and optimistic one.
Council leaders can pass the buck and play political blame games when they should be taking action. We need proper accountability.
The choices made by the failing Labour Council have broken our borough with bankruptcy, poor planning, and filthy streets.
If crime increases, and crime raises risk for business, then investment will be lower, leading directly to weaker productivity growth, slower employment growth, and lower output. Crime is both an economic and a social problem.