Cllr Teresa O’Neill is the Leader of Bexley Council.
On May 5th, Bexley’s Conservative team delivered the most successful election result of the night.
While the media claimed the Conservatives were being wiped out in London, we quietly delivered our fifth election landslide in a row, an unprecedented achievement. We won 51 per cent of the vote and 33 of the 45 seats, and only lost one seat, one we only had by a few votes anyway.
Residents from all areas of the Borough gave us a decisive endorsement, and a clear mandate to carry on running our Council. Of course, as this did not fit with the media narrative, this achievement did not seem to be covered on the news.
But why have we won a fifth landslide? There are several key reasons. Firstly, we have a strong record of delivering on our pledges. Every one of our 2018 pledges was delivered in full, but so have all the pledges we have made since 2006. Four years ago, we said we would plant a thousand new street trees and residents could see for themselves we have done that – indeed some of the residents helped care for the new trees as they started to grow.
We pledged to deliver an outstanding Children’s Services, and residents can read the Ofsted assessment saying the service is outstanding.
But it’s about more than that. Our Councillors care about our Borough, and want it to be successful. That was reflected in our positive, forward-looking campaign. Our campaign message of Making Bexley Even Better resonated, and we know that residents share our love for where we live; after all they have chosen to make their homes and raise their families in Bexley. And 75 per cent of residents recommend Bexley to their friends and family as a great place to live.
By stark contrast, the Labour opposition spent all their time telling people what they disliked about our borough, and how it was such a terrible place. One of their candidates even claimed the ward they were hoping to represent was “a dive” and urged people to avoid it – then they wonder why they lost…
We also have a strong record of investing in services and in the things that matter to residents. Again, residents in Thamesmead and Sidcup can see their new libraries being built right in front of their eyes. Local businesses know we were there for them during the pandemic, not least of all through the £9m of support payments we made to help them survive and bounce back from covid. They can see our record on recycling, being named the top borough in London for recycling for 17 years in a row and they know from their direct experience that we have some of the top performing schools in the country.
Then there is the financial stability which underpins everything. It’s been a hard couple of years for everyone because of the pandemic, and that has hit council finances hard. But while residents can see Labour neighbour, Croydon, declaring bankruptcy and closing and cutting services, we have received one independent audit report saying our finances are a “good news story” while a Cipfa report says Bexley’s political leadership has a clear grasp on the financial situation post-covid.
But it’s more than that. We’re honest with residents and share everything in full. As an example, our budget for 2021/22 was subject to over four months of consultation, and we received thousands of responses. Cabinet members read them all and we were able to take some of the ideas suggested by residents and incorporate them into our plans. We didn’t pretend everything was rosy; we said this is what we need to do, help us get there together.
By contrast, Labour Greenwich’s recent budget consultation lasted a couple of weeks and generated just a handful of responses, and people were only asked whether they supported the Council’s plans or not.
Of course, there is a lot we need to do. The Fair Funding review needs to happen quickly. The delays have only made the discrepancies in funding clearer. As an example, if we received the same level of funding as Greenwich then we could cut Council Tax immediately by 70 per cent. The Government needs to get on with this review now.
I’m proud of what we achieved in this election. To win five landslide victories in a row isn’t a fluke. Or anything to do with whatever is happening elsewhere. It was achieved because we focus relentlessly on our residents and making our Borough better, now and into the future. We always will.
