As you read this, hundreds of Independent, Green, Plaid Cymru and smaller party candidates are out and about in their communities and working hard online, organised and determined to focus on getting the very best for their local residents.
I would like to congratulate all the Conservative candidates who were elected or re-elected in May’s local elections and offer my commiserations to those who were unsuccessful.
Congratulations to all the councillors – of all parties – who were elected for the first time in May, and now have the chance to lead positive change in your local communities. Commiserations to all who lost their seats: I’m sure you will all find other ways to act as local champions.
The Liberal Democrats are back, and we are back with a bang
Welcome to all new councillors, and well done to those who were re-elected!
It can’t be easy being the Chancellor when the Office for Budget Responsibility states that British households are about to suffer “the biggest fall in living standards since records began”.
At the time of writing this article, we are in the fifth week of the war in Ukraine. Like everyone else, I have been shocked by the terrible scenes that we are witnessing on a daily basis while also being humbled by the resistance and acts of heroism of the Ukrainian people.
A key part of my platform to become Leader of the LGA’s Liberal Democrat Group was about raising the profile of local government in my party, and the successes of our councillors and councils in the wider local government world.
With the arrival of the first Ukrainian families to their sponsors in Britain, I know you are preparing to help those sharing their homes and those who are arriving having escaped from this terrible war.
With the publication of ‘Levelling up the UK’ and its 12 quantifiable ‘missions’, which are to be achieved by 2030, we can now fully explain to the communities and people that we represent exactly what this agenda means for them.