Category: Liberal Democrats

The most important General Election for a generation The Stakes could hardly be higher…   We are having a General Election. I am assuming this has not escaped anyone’s attention. This is not an election the Conservative Party wanted. We wanted to deliver Brexit, fulfil the mandate of the British people expressed in the 2016…

BASILDON LOCAL ELECTIONS 2019 The dust has settled on Thursday night and there is no getting away from the fact that it was not a great night for the Conservatives. Nationally, the Tories have lost over 1,300 councillors. Labour also lost seats nationally and, although they lost less than 100, they have little to crow…

Thursday was an exceptionally good night for the Conservatives (much better than 2016). We held the five seats we were defending (Billericay East, Billericay West, Burstead, Crouch and Wickford North) and, in addition, won five more (Laindon Park, two seats in Pitsea South-East, Wickford Castledon and Wickford Park). UKIP, who were the second largest party…

BASILDON LOCAL ELECTIONS 2018 It’s that time of the year again and local elections are upon us. We have fifteen seats on Basildon Borough Council up for grabs to determine who will take charge of the Council, which has been in No Overall Control since 2014. The Council is presently led by a coalition of…

I must begin this blog with my customary apology for the length of time it has taken to write it. A number of people have complained that I have not yet written up the Full Council meeting of 7th July, well over a week ago, including no less a figure than Cllr David Harrison (WI,…

Well, that is all she wrote. It is 3:30am on Friday 6th May and I have just got back from the Count after what was a mixed night for the Conservatives. Heaven only knows why I am typing this up now but it is all swimming around in my head. Ultimately, the Tories won six…

Firstly, an apology. I never wrote up the last meeting of Full Council, which I think is a first. I decided to wait for the audio recording to go on the website, as it makes it much easier for me to do the write-up but, low and behold, the Council’s audio-recording system failed again and,…

So, thought I’d write-up the Basildon Council Annual Meeting held on Thursday. These are normally quite civil, set-piece affairs, where we elect our Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the municipal year and also pass the winning party’s Order Paper, enabling them to form an Administration. The Order Paper confirms the Leader and Deputy Leader of…

The events at last week’s meeting of Full Council were fairly hum-drum, considering the backdrop and the huge changes to the Council’s composition over the past few weeks, and I therefore anticipate this blog will be more ‘gossipy’ than usual. So, if political gossip and intrigue does not interest you then read no further. First,…

The sad passing of Nelson Mandela has obviously overshadowed the Autumn Statement delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer last week. In his speech, George Osborne confirmed that, thanks to the Government’s long-term economic plan, the British economy is back on track and our burgeoning recovery underway, with growth set to more than double this year… This…