Cllr Tony Riordan is the Leader of the Conservative Group on Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.
Is the end of a Labour-led Council in Stockton-on Tees on the horizon?
I posed this question in July last year when describing the ascendency of the Conservative Group on Stockton Borough Council since 2019. That year the group rose from 12 to 14 Councillors. In 2021, due to several by-elections, the group rose to 16 Councillors.
I know, as a Group Leader of highly motivated and hardworking Councillors, that nothing can be taken for granted in politics. Our message to the electorate going into the recent local elections wouldn’t change; it would continue to focus on them and their families, putting them first, spending their hard-earned money on them, and on the services they desperately need – like clean streets, parks, and a beefed-up street warden presence. Cleaner, greener, safer.
Our message would include a cast iron promise of prudent financial management practices, focusing on reducing the debt the Labour-led Council has amassed on wasteful vanity projects. A commitment to keeping Council Tax rises to the absolute minimum. We would invite private investment into our six towns. We would continue to lobby Government to invest in our Borough and our people.
The last four years have shown that our electorate was gaining confidence in our messaging, our vision, and our commitment to change the Council for the better. We needed to ensure that the trust that they were showing in us was rewarded with a stronger Conservative representation on the Council, or one better, a Conservative Led Council.
I knew that the political landscape was changing nationally, but was confident that our message locally, which hasn’t changed in the last four years, was the true course to steer. We had to control the narrative; it was local elections about local issues; the strength of our message versus the weakness of the pitiful Labour diatribe.
An advantage gifted to us by the local Labour MP and his party is their constant whinging and whining about everything the Conservative Government/Party do to improve the Borough. Millions of pounds have found their way into our Borough through successful lobbying by our local MP, Matt Vickers, in levelling-up bids for our towns, including for the building of a much needed Diagnostic Hospital. Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley Combined Authority Mayor, supported the vision to invest in our six towns and the wider area. The electorate does not like the negative stance adopted by Labour getting in the way of a united and positive vision to improve our Borough and the wider area, more jobs, better facilities, and improved health outcomes for our people. An own goal for Labour.
Going into the election we had 16 Councillors from a total of 56. Labour had 24, leading a minority Council propped up by a cabal of independent, Labour supporting, councillors.
Like everyone else, I knew it wasn’t just about protecting the seats we held; to live up to our vision we had to take our strong local message into every one of the 26 wards if we were to improve our standing in the Council. Quite often, my colleagues thought I was being over optimistic in the aim of taking control of the Council; for my part I put it down to a good balance of realism and optimism, with a great sense of belief in our fantastic candidates.
What happened?
Firstly, one of the wards was countermanded following the sad death of a candidate. This will now take place at the end of June.
This particular ward, has three seats, and has been the strongest and safest Conservative area for as long as I can remember.
Secondly, the Conservative Group seats rose from 16 to 23. Following the countermanded election, I expect this to rise to 26 at the end of June.
The Labour group lost two seats, a disastrous day for them, but as it stands they will be allowed to struggle on with aid of a cabal of seven Labour-supporting Independents to retain control of the Council. Whether this lasts remains to be seen.
Is the end of a Labour-led Council in Stockton-on Tees on the horizon? The answer is a definite yes, and that horizon is getting closer.
The positives are that the Conservative Group, by the end of June, will have more than doubled (from 12 to 26) their seats on Stockton Borough Council in four years. A fantastic achievement.
Many people have asked the same question:
“Why did the Conservative Group in Stockton buck the national trend?”
The answer is simple. We kept our message constant, local, focusing on our people and what a Conservative Government does to support the Borough. It hasn’t changed in four years. Why change something that isn’t broken?