Reform UK gained a seat from the Conservatives in North Somerset and a seat from Labour in North East Derbyshire.
Ridership across the capital’s buses fell by a whopping 70 million journeys during 2025 alone. The amount that TfL has to spend to subsidise the bus network to compensate for a shortfall at the farebox has almost doubled an eye-watering annual £1.19 billion.
There is so much that can be done now, such as the production of Neighbourhood Plans.
While I am supporting James Cleverly as our candidate for Mayor, Conservatives do not believe in coronations.
Bigger is not better and it is not even more efficient. People lose faith that the word ‘community’ even applies to them any more.
The Green Party gained a seat from the Conservatives in Dover. Reform UK gained a seat from Labour in Sheffield. But Labour gained seats from Reform UK in Barnsley and St Helens
Sir James Needs to Abandon The Tories’ Failed Doughnut Strategy in London. Cleverly’s mistake would be to try re-heated Boris Johnsonism. He has to spot a gap in the London political market – and the problems of public transport and crime provide that opportunity.
Lawlessness has become weather – something you plan around, complain about and expect. That is what normalisation means, and it is a moral event, not just a criminological one. A society that shrugs has already conceded.
That means insisting that infrastructure delivery matches housing delivery – not follows it years later.
If Parliament believes Britain needs more council housing, ministers should make that case openly and fund it through the Budget rather than relying on hidden taxes within the planning system.
Power should sit as close as possible to the people it affects. The individual before the state. The family before bureaucracy. Parish councils before district councils. District councils before counties. Counties before regions. Westminster only where national government is genuinely required.
On his watch, the public body that should be at least breaking even – and maybe even generating a profit – for Londoners is being systematically run into the ground.
Oxfordshire’s residents deserve a compelling explanation of how three smaller unitary councils will cost less to run than larger alternatives.
The cutting of VAT on the repair, restoration, and traditional retrofitting of historic structures holds a universally agreed consensus across leading professionals. Lowering the tax burden will make traditional methods financially competitive with modern drywall and concrete systems.
In an environment of tightening local government budgets, my desire is to shield local families from excessive taxation. I remain committed to challenging the council to eliminate administrative waste, ensuring that every penny of taxpayer money is directed toward frontline public services.