What have the Conservatives done for Shropshire? Not much, I would have said, but at least they brought a university to our county. Now even that is not true. The University of Chester is leaving its base at the Guildhall in Shrewsbury Frankwell at the end of term. The University is looking for a new home in Shropshire but it doesn’t sound committed to remaining. The Conservatives are talking about moving the council into the Guildhall so that it can flog off the Shirehall site for housing and use the money to pay for its pet projects around Shrewsbury town centre and the North West Relief Road. Here is a shocker. The decision to give the University of Chester it marching orders was not made by Shropshire councillors or by the council leadership. It was made by council officers and the leader of council, Lezley Picton, did not know about […]
Tag: politics
The Tories are perilously close to losing control of Shropshire Council
When Shropshire Council was established in 2009, the Conservatives gained a majority of 34 over the opposition parties and independents. Fast forward to 2023. The Conservative majority has been reduced to just four. The Tories are in peril of losing votes they need to win in the council chamber. They are also in danger of losing more by-elections. They have lost the last four to the Lib Dems. Although leading Conservatives are blaming their problems on the national government, their problems lie closer to home. They have shown little interest in communities. They haven’t listened to people. They have become arrogant and autocratic. Nationally and locally, the Conservatives have been in power too long. The county needs a change. The country needs a change. The Conservatives need to retreat, detox from power and reflect on how they have turned electoral popularity to being a party that is too widely detested […]
Conservatives and council officers tried to exclude opposition councillors from North West Relief Road vote
The Northern Planning Committee met yesterday to consider the planning application for the controversial NWRR road. After nearly four hours, the committee voted by six votes to five to approve the planning application. The vote was on political lines. Six Conservatives voted for the plan. Three Lib Dem, one Green and one Labour councillor voted against. This article is not about that debate. It’s about the attempts by Shropshire Council and a former cabinet member to exclude members who have in the past indicated that they don’t support the road from yesterday’s committee. No attempts were made to exclude those Conservative members who have supported the road in the past. This group of councillors are described in an email from a senior council officer to Shrewsbury & Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski as “our councillors”, inferring their vote was in the bag. These actions are unprecedented. They show that Shropshire Council […]
Philip Dunne to step down as MP at next election
Elected to represent the Ludlow constituency in 2005, the Right Honourable Philip Dunne MP is to step down at the next election. In the last few years Dunne has proved himself one of the best chairs of the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), which has been challenging the government and privatised industries on their environment record and their progress towards zero carbon. In its groundbreaking report on sewage outflows into rivers and seas, EAC recommended ending sewage outflows by 2030. But Dunne subsequently voted against a 2030 deadline and has instead supported the government’s weak target of 2050. There will be mixed views on his success as a constituency MP. Despite his earlier role as a councillor on South Shropshire District Council, in recent times he has become more distant from his constituency.
Rules have changed – time to ensure you have the right ID to vote
Gone are the days when you could walk into a polling station, give your name and vote. For the first time from May, you will need to present some form of ID, usually digital, at a polling station. Examples include a passport, driving licence or old person’s bus pass. The Conservatives have driven this through parliament because they think, in true Trump-like fashion, that there is widespread voter fraud in local and national elections. While there have been cases of voter fraud, there is no evidence that it is widespread. The real reason is crude politics. The Conservatives have less support among younger voters, who are more progressive thinking and are less engaged with voting. The Electoral Reform Society also warned that the voter ID list the government has introduced gives few options for younger voters. This suits the Conservatives, who are desperate to maximise their vote in pursuit of […]