Cllr Yukteshwar Kumar is a councillor for Bath and North East Somerset Council representing Bathwick Ward
There is a maxim in Hindi: Akela Chana Bhand Nahi Todta. It means ‘one fan can’t dispel the fog’, or ‘a sole effort can’t change things’. Unfortunately, the beautiful city of Bath, a UNESCO World Heritage site that sits on the banks of the River Avon, has for the past three years been under the dark fog of the Liberal Democrats. This fog needs to be dispelled at the earliest opportunity.
Thankfully, such an opportunity will arrive in May when residents in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) will be asked to elect their local councillors for another four-year term.
Last Christmas I resigned from the Liberal Democrats after being subjected to bullying, discrimination, and numerous character assassinations. Since then I have continued to work hard in my Bathwick ward, speaking to people on the doorstep, arranging litter picks with local school children, and helping residents solve a wide range of issues.
The Lib Dems have huge party machinery at their disposal. If I fight alone to defend my Bathwick seat I will be living in fool’s paradise, wool-gathering along the beautiful banks of the Avon. I see the sheer volume of leaflets the Lib Dems shove through peoples’ letterboxes and which, on my own, I simply could not match.
Honesty and integrity matter a lot to me and my residents. For that reason, I could not have joined the Conservative Party under the soon-to-be former Prime Minister. Thankfully, though, things have changed.
Senior academic, Matthew Goodwin, recently said:
“The Conservative leadership election is already the most ethnically diverse leadership election in the history of British politics, after the most diverse cabinet in history, in the most diverse parliament in history.”
I would like to add not only is this true of Britain’s history but of the political history of the whole world. No country has ever witnessed such a diverse pool of talent vying for the top post. It is something of which we should all be proud.
Unlike the local Lib Dems, the B&NES Conservatives give a great deal of support and encouragement to hard-working activists. My new Conservative colleagues have the skills and the ambition, things the Lib Dems lack completely, to make Bath a better place to live and work.
Just before I officially joined the Conservatives, I was delighted to meet with Matthew Heappey, the party’s new Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bath and the man hoping to unseat Lib Dem MP, Wera Hobhouse. Matthew will make a brilliant MP and I’m delighted to support him at the next General Election as I know he will be supporting me at next year’s locals. Indeed, I have already developed a strong working relationship with the B&NES Conservatives and I’m hugely excited to think of what we might achieve together.
They say that politics is such a serious business that it should not be left to politicians alone. That’s why, as a senior academic at a university, I got involved in politics – to do good work in the community. When you are elected to public office, you are given a bigger platform to make serious changes in your local area for the benefit of the community.
The Liberal Democrats have ruined our beautiful city. After gaining a huge majority in the 2019 elections, they have become extremely arrogant and do not listen to the concerns of residents or other councillors.
In February 2020, even though I was then a member of the ruling Lib Dems, I raised the issue of the threat of the looming pandemic and demanded more budgetary support to deal with it. I, along with the Conservative councillors who made the same appeal, were ridiculed by the administration. And a month later, when I asked the administration to cancel or postpone the Bath Half Marathon because of the pandemic, once again I was reprimanded and ridiculed.
Due to their own incompetence, the B&NES Liberal Democrats are now deeply divided. Last year, a faction dissatisfied with the status quo brought down the senior leadership and the leader of the council was purged. The new leader of the council was the Chair of the Children and Young Peoples’ Scrutiny Committee in Telford as a Labour councillor when, as we now know, thousands of young girls were abused. He signed a letter in 2016 to then Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, stating that there was no need for a Government-led inquiry into the affair.
I am somebody who will fight against injustice wherever I encounter it. William Faulkner said:
“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth.”
I do not know how much we can change the world, but I am determined to win 40 seats next year and dethrone the Lib Dem administration. And by joining hands with the Conservatives, fighting together for a better Bath, I will work even harder for my community until the Lib Dem fog is permanently dispelled.