ConservativeHome's Local Government Blog

Bob Neill reports back on a successful Conservative Councillors' Association Conference

Bob Neill is shadow minister for local government and reports back from this weekend's Conservative Councillors' Association Conference.

A record attendance at this year’s Conservative Councillors' Association Conference and a real enthusiasm to get rid of Labour highlights to me that our Party is in great shape and well prepared for the electoral battles ahead.

The main subject of conversation around the conference is about this failed Labour Government and the real opportunity we have in local government to allow the public to show their opinion of Gordon Brown at the forthcoming Local and European elections in June.  The last electoral test before the General Election.

Preparing for the local government elections is a major part of the conference and today, Eric Pickles will brief the conference on the strategy that many are hoping will remove more Labour controlled councils from the political map.  He will make clear that all Conservative activists, councillors, M.Ps and M.E.Ps will be required to play their part and show that the Conservatives have a winning team that’s campaigning hard across the country and showing why a change of government is so desperately needed next year.

The other main focus of the conference is helping the people that Conservative councillors represent through this recession. Local authorities up and down the country have a real role to play in reducing the burden on families and I am left in no doubt that we are delivering.

Tories call for transparency on Iceland deposits crisis

Shadow local government minister Bob Beill MP has written today to John Healey MP calling for an end to the leaking of information about councils' exposure in a "piecemeal" and "speculative manner".  The text of the letter is published in full below.

Local policies for local people

Shadow Local Government Minister Bob Neill MP reviews Big Ideas: Building on Conservative Fundamentals  published by Localis. Neill backs its call to set Councils free.

Localism is a buzzword that is used by politicians of every hue but this paper is a restatement of why it is Conservatives who have always been the genuine localist party.  It is our councils coming up with innovative and unique solutions needed to solve the very different problems that each council is faced with. They have all rejected Labour’s stateist centralised approach to government and worked for their residents.

The first case study comes from Cllr Eddie Lister, the Leader of Wandsworth Council and highlights how good local government is best achieved through fundamental Conservative principles.  The study shows how Wandsworth have delivered top quality services which are value for money and that’s why Conservatives have been in charge for 30 years.  That key Conservative principle of value for money coupled with efficient service delivery does not just lead to administrative success it is also hugely successful politically. 

Stephen Greenhalgh goes on to show how Conservative fundamentals can also redefine policy on “affordable housing”, which is not about creating dependency but about allowing people to fulfill the aspiration of home ownership.  His innovative take on the traditional Right to Buy scheme, which was such a vital driver of social mobility in the 1980s, is be applauded and should be an important lesson to Conservatives throughout the country.

Bob Neill MP questions Labour's moves to merge 2009's local and European elections

Following reports that the Government is planning the 'desperate move' of combining the local and European elections next spring, Shadow Local Government Minister Bob Neill questions Brown's motivations and suggests that holding two elections on one day could be chaotic.  Local elections are held in May each year but the Europe-wide elections every five years, in June.  Paul Waugh of the London Evening Standard says Labour fears bad results:

"Labour faces the loss of Lancashire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire County Councils to a Tory tide that will strike fear into the hearts of Labour MPs who hold crucial marginal seats in each area. Ironically, all the Labour counties were held in 2005 because the local elections that year were held on the same day as Tony Blair's general election victory."

Neill tells Waugh that Brown is 'clearly terrified of a bad beating' and that the postponement of the County elections is an attempt to delay speculation about his leadership in the short term and give more space for his fightback against the Conservative Party.

Neill also points to problems in the recent elections for the Scottish Parliament to suggest that combining different voting systems on one ballot paper can be confusing, and that having witnessed the chaos north of the border, first past the post and list systems should not share the ballot paper in English elections.