Good progress in local elections

Tim Huggan writes on the outcome of this years local election results in the region

lition was the result of many years hard work from the team led by Alan Dean. The Lib Dem group shot up from 18 to 31 members, making our Uttlesford group, in the Saffron Walden constituency that includes Stansted Airport, the largest Lib Dem group in the region.

Close on their heels, is Norwich City where we now have 30 councillors led by Ian Couzens in this former Labour fiefdom. Next year’s elections in Norwich, when all councillors are up for election on new ward boundaries, will be a supreme test of our sustained advance against Labour in Norfolk.

David Franks led the party to an astonishing victory in Luton, where the Lib Dems took 20 seats and have assumed minority control. This is the first unitary authority where we have been in such a happy position. Peterborough, Southend and Thurrock watch out! Their loss at Luton means that Labour now controls just three councils in the region (Ipswich, Stevenage and Thurrock).

The list of councils where the Liberal Democrats improved the number of elected members is impressive: Babergh, Bedford, Braintree, Broadland, Cambridge, Colchester, Dacorum, Hertsmere, Ipswich, King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, Luton, Mid-Beds, North Herts, North Norfolk, Norwich, South Norfolk, Southend, St Albans, Tendring, Three Rivers, Uttlesford and Watford.

Our councillors’ task is to prove that in our new found areas of influence across the region they are better than our opponents not only at listening to people but also at implementing our priorities decisively. Lib Dem Councils should work to develop the regional dimension of local government, and to actively promote themselves in Whitehall and Brussels. This is a challenge, indeed, for all our councillors across the region.

Next year the local and European Parliamentary elections will be held on the same day, Thursday 10 June. This gives us a great opportunity in the places where there are council elections to push up the turnout of our voters. Even where there are no council elections in 2004, the European Parliamentary poll will be counted and declared locally, so every local party has an incentive to work hard on the ground. The national and regional parties are working hard to prepare a fully integrated campaign that will deliver us an increased share of the poll, more councillors and two MEPs.