Local campaign group Residents of Wilmslow (RoW) has confirmed its line-up of politically independent candidates for the forthcoming local elections on May 2nd.
All the council seats for Cheshire East and Wilmslow Town Council are up for re-election and RoW is putting forward 8 candidates to compete for 5 Cheshire East and 15 Wilmslow Town Council seats across the town, which is an increase from their current 3 councillors.
Phil Enstone, Chairman of RoW said "The surge in our number of candidates reflects the fast growing support and interest we continue to gather. Increasingly, voters are realising that national politics are not needed in local government and that independent groups offer a great alternative to the poor performing Conservative councillors.
"Whenever RoW has elected councillors, we have made many big improvements by challenging the status quo and by putting the needs of Wilmslow and its residents first and foremost in our actions. Our only ideology is to do what is best for the town. This means ensuring we get investment into Wilmslow and its infrastructure to ensure it remains a great place to live, work and shop.
"With three councillors already, we are confident we can build on this number by giving Wilmslow's voters a highly credible alternative to our complacent Conservative councillors."
The RoW candidates, who have all lived in Wilmslow for a number of years, are:
Cheshire East Council
- Wilmslow Dean Row: Toni Fox, (the current ward Councillor)
- Wilmslow East: David Jefferay (a current Wilmslow Town Councillor)
- Wilmslow West & Chorley (a two seat ward) : Mark Goldsmith (a current Wilmslow Town Councillor) and Ian Macfarlane
Wilmslow Town Council
- Wilmslow Dean Row (a four seat ward) : Jon Newell
- Wilmslow East (a four seat ward): Jon Kelly (former Macclefield Borough councillor) & Lata Anderson
- Wilmslow West (a five seat ward) : Mark Goldsmith (a current Wilmslow Town Councillor)
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
At this time, when catastrophic climate changes is becoming ever more likely, a clear "Green" voice is necessary at all levels of UK politics. In local politics the Green Party proposes policies such as reducing car use by improving local public transport and increasing traffic-free cycle routes. We should be building more social housing and starter homes, so our young people have somewhere to live. Cheshire East should be subsidising thermal insulation of our existing housing stock to reduce energy usage. In Wilmslow, we need to preserve, not build on, our existing green spaces and Lindow Moss should be restored to its natural state.
The Conservative dominated East Cheshire council has consistently failed to implement any of these policies. The Green Party would like the Conservative dominance of Cheshire East to be reduced. Our antiquated voting system means the Green Party's best approach in Wilmslow is to stand down in favour of prospective candidates who support Green Party policies such as Residents of Wilmslow. The Green Party nationally is campaigning for a modern voting system in all elections so that elected representatives are more proportional to the votes cast and our politics becomes more collaborative and less confrontational.
Ironically, the flyer is titled "In Touch".
Lets hope these independents candidates can make a real impact on CEC.
From a personal perspective, I don't see any reason why I wouldn't support any of your proposed policies mentioned above and couldn't agree more that Cheshire East has betrayed our residents by allowing development of our green spaces and failing to protect what I see as being one of Wilmslow's most important assets, Lindow Moss.
Fingers crossed, we can help to alter the balance of power and achieve your aspiration of making local government in Cheshire East more collaborative.
As an engineer, rather than taking such a short-sighted view, I'd prefer to see a preventative maintenance regime or 'stitch in time saves nine' approach!