
The local elections revisited: An analysis of results in the South East
It is easy to conclude that the Conservatives were the biggest losers. The question of who won is more complicated.
It is easy to conclude that the Conservatives were the biggest losers. The question of who won is more complicated.
Staying on would be a tragedy for the Conservative Party, which could very well cease to be viable as a party of government.
That is bigger than the size of Surrey. The MOD also holds “rights” to another half a million acres.
This weakening of local accountability makes it all the more important for Conservatives to offer voters a clear alternative.
Maybe it was ever thus, at least in modern times, but Tory-held suburban seats outside the South-East are under-represented at the top table.
The Party has collectively failed to modernise its campaigning, with the result that we saw on June 8. This needs radical reform if it is not to collapse completely.
Council leaders will draw a moral from those mis-sent text messages: that if Ministers are put under enough pressure, they will cough up the loot.
They take place three months from tomorrow – as will Birmingham’s mayoral election and that Surrey council tax referendum.
Two-tier arrangements confuse the public – radical reform is the answer to the financial pressures.
We have no alternative to seeking a 15 per cent Council Tax rise.
Has the Council really done all it can in ‘sweating’ its large property assets ?
The campaign group hopes to lead the official No campaign.
We have lobbied the Chancellor hard and it’s achieved results.
It is a relic of an out-of-date fashion for the big and artificial rather than the small, local and rooted.
A Police and Crime Commissioner should help attract top recruits but be intolerant of poor practice.