Cllr Simon Fawthrop represents Petts Wood & Knoll Ward on Bromley Council.
Go back a couple of weeks and the PollCheck website along with MRP polls was predicting that Bromley Council and Bexley Council would be either Reform run Councils or Reform
as the largest party. It didn’t happen, because both boroughs remain firmly under Conservative control. Here’s my account of the factors that impacted the Bromley campaign.
So why the discrepancy, was it the Greater London factor, or by being next to Kent County Council that allowed comparisons to be made?
Local conservatives in Bromley made great play on being a well-run local authority. Comparably, Bromley’s Council Tax was £130.00 per year cheaper than Kent. Our
stance on Council Tax benefits is the toughest in the Country. The borough proudly flies the Union flag over the Civic Centre 24x7x365. The Conservative Council had a strong stance against ULEZ, fining Khan’s camera vans when they parked on our pristine grass verges. Bromley were the first Free Speech Council in the UK. Bromley as well as being the only debt-free and most efficient Council (on a per capita basis) in Greater London was also number one for recycling in the capital. All positive points
In short, we upheld those traditional Conservative values, which made attacks from the Reform shouty voices stating “Bromley is broken” being seen as completely farcical. Reform’s top-down approach (please note CCHQ) from Millbank Tower, meant their candidates didn’t turn up at hustings events across Bromley. At my local hustings, I substituted a toy chicken for a Reform candidate to much amusement from residents. Reform were constrained by their national based literature, whereas Conservatives could be flexible and dynamic.
Secondly, there was the Greater London factor; initially, Reform claimed they would have a referendum to take Bromley out of Greater London. Apart from being unlawful and costing the Taxpayers circa £1 million to hold a referendum, concerns over loss of public transport, meant a forced U-turn from Reform. Whilst residents in Bromley can’t stand Sadiq Khan, they do like their bus passes!
Finally, we backed ourselves and didn’t sugarcoat the tough decisions that need to be taken to counteract the £22 million Labour Party cuts heading our way, or the £3 million cut
in funding from Khan at City Hall already hitting our road safety programmes. Whilst others were in denial, the hard truth was understood by voters in Bromley. They rejected the fantasy politics of the Greens and only a few people at the margins were enticed by the politics of negativity and doom peddled by Reform.
The most important thing your readers should take away from the Bromley result is that today in his rural Bromley home in Downe, Nigel Farage is represented by a Conservative Councillor, just as he has been for the last 62 years.