Local Election Blog #2

Since submitting my nomination to stand for Liverpool City Council in the Clubmoor ward the only response I’ve heard from the Labour side is that they are “hoping to see Labour wiping the floor with the LibDem candidate” – obviously Jeremy Corbyn’s call for a “kinder politics” is lost on Labour in Liverpool.  I’m told that Clubmoor is a safe Labour ward and that nobody else stands a chance.  But is that true?

Well the raw figures point that way.  At the last election the Labour candidate won in Clubmoor with 83% of the vote.  However as with all statistics that doesn’t paint a true picture.  With turnout of 23% that means only 19% of the Clubmoor electorate voted Labour.  Just 4% voted for the other parties and 77% didn’t vote at all.

Labour may be complacent about winning the ward, but I think having over three quarters of the local community not voting is a sad reflection of the way the people of North Liverpool are simply taken for granted by the Labour Party.  Well this is your opportunity to look at your area and your city and ask yourself “is this good enough?”  I certainly don’t think the way the current Labour council is running this city is good enough. 

So what are the LibDems offering? Our manifesto, (read it here) the only party putting their plans forward by the way, outlines our plans for the city:

-Major changes in the way the council is run with an improvement in scrutiny and oversight of the Mayor and Cabinet

-A renewed pledge to abolish the position of the Elected Mayor of Liverpool.

- Establish a methodology to ensure that the council, in terms of both political and managerial leadership, is representative of the gender, faith and ethnic balances in the city as a whole.

- A pledge to protect both the World Heritage Status and the parks and green spaces of Liverpool.

- Proposals for improving health including encouraging all schools to develop ‘mile a day’ walking programmes and programmes for helping people buy and cook healthier food and drinks.

- Use the new Local Plan to reduce the number of student homes and will work with the Government and other agencies to deal with the problems of half-built developments all over the city and  available land for housing for families and not student pods or more one bedroomed flats.

I hope you read our manifesto and see that we have a strong plan for running the great city of Liverpool a better way. Building a sustainable future for the whole community.

Demand Better. Vote for Liverpool Liberal Democrats.

Sean Robertson
LibDems Candidate for Clubmoor

Local Elections 2019

This year's local elections will be a new experience as I'll have my name on the ballot paper having been nominated to stand for the Liberal Democrats in the Clubmoor ward in Liverpool.

I'm definitely not going into these elections with dreams of a landslide victory, Clubmoor is a solid Labour stronghold, but with the local party having ditched a long serving councillor and chosen a new candidate at least I'm not going up against an incumbent.  I also won't be producing any paper leaflets, you get enough rubbish put through your doors without me adding to it.

Why the LibDems? Well having been a member of the Labour Party for a quarter of a century, I thought the long dark days of Militant, and making promises we couldn't keep, were behind us. Whilst the Thatcher government deserves much of the blame for the near death of Liverpool in the 1980s, the then local Labour Party was another side of the same coin, driving business and a generation of people away from the city.  Pragmatism and the building of a business friendly approach saved Liverpool, making it one of the fastest growing cities in the country. However the decline of the 70s and 80s was so deep that the rebuilding of our city and its reputation still has a long way to go.

I was a supporter of Joe Anderson and I approve of much of what he has done, but I couldn't sit back and watch the  Momentum takeover of the local party put at risk what has been achieved by both the LibDems and Labour Councils over the last 30 years.

Having left the Labour Party I looked around at another party that best met by political instincts and found that home with the LibDems. Especially with their pro-European identity. Now I'm certainly not blind to the damage done to the party during the coalition government, indeed I lost my job in the civil service less than one year into that regime. But I'm can also see that they acted as a brake on the more extreme aspects of the Tories ideology, and what has happened since 2015 is testament to that.

What about me then, raised in a one parent family, missed a lot of school time when my mum had a mental health illness, left school with no qualifications, but was determined to dig my way out of the hole I was in, and have worked in both the public and private sectors all of my working life. I was born and lived in Seaforth until my early 20s, moved south to work in London for a year, which turned into 20 years! before returning home 8 years ago.

I'm also a strong believer in putting something back into the city and community so I spend most weekends volunteering in the tourism, culture and sporting sectors.

My main focus if elected to the council would be jobs. Once you've got a job, paying a real wage, then everything else becomes easier.  But getting investment into the city to create those jobs is only part of the solution. Issues around transport, childcare (and adult care), health care etc all impact on your ability to get and keep a job.

I'd also want to hold developers to account for what they building, some of the recent new buildings are just plain shoddy, and simply not good enough for a city like ours. The number of failed projects which leave empty frames in the city and developers walking away with their pockets full of other's money is a scandal which must be stopped.

Whilst there is no justification, or need, to building on our green spaces, we cannot afford to just leave them empty and unused. They must be seen as assets for the public good, safe spaces for children and adults alike to play in, socialise in and enjoy.

Finally, I can promise you one thing - honesty. Whilst I've never run for, or held political office before, I have always been interested in politics, and something that infuriates me is when politicians refuse to give a simple answer to a question. That won't be me.

So if you, like me, struggle to see what the Labour administration is actually achieving in the city, if you want a progressive alternative, if you want someone to represent you on the council and not the other way round, then please vote for me in Clubmoor.

Thanks
Seán