Derbyshire County Council Election – 4th May

On Thursday 4th May, all 64 seats on the Derbyshire County Council will be contested by 270 candidates as the new County Council is elected, as happens every four years.

The council is currently led by Labour who have 43 seats, Conservatives have 18 seats and the Liberal Democrats have 3 seats.

Belper’s divisions are:

Alport and Derwent
Currently Conservative

Candidates Standing in Alport and Derwent:

 

Jyoti Wilkinson for Labour

Belper born Jyoti is a law trained co-ordinator at Derby Rights and Representation Foundation, which is a free advocacy and advice service and is involved in campaigns to save the NHS and with Unite.  He supports investment in public services to “ensure that no-one is left behind”.  Jyoti opposes fracking.  Jyoti is the only candidate to produce a video for voters to watch.

 

Click here to see Jyoti’s campaign leaflet.

 

Paul Smith for Liberal Democrats

We have recieved no literature for this candidate and can find none online. Please see party pledges below.

 

David Taylor for the Conservative Party

David lives in Idridgehay, south of Wirksworth, which has a population of 275 people. He has been a Borough Councillor for 6 years and is the incumbent County Councillor for Alport and Derwent. He ascribes to Theresa May’s catchphrase and describes himself as “a strong and experienced councillor”.
His priorities are:

“Keeping Council Tax low

Maintaining & delivering high quality public services like the new refuse collection scheme

Protecting our greenbelt and preventing the over-development of our villages.”

 

William MacFarlane for the Green Party

We have recieved no literature for this candidate and can find none online. Please see party pledges below.

 

Belper
Currently Labour

Candidates Standing in Belper:

John Owen for Labour

John is the incumbent councillor for Belper, White Moor and Far Laund.  He is a Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure. John is firmly against fracking and wants to keep NHS services in Belper if Labour cannot stop the closure of Babington Hospital.

Click here to see John Owen’s campaign leaflet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Salmon for Liberal Democrats

We have recieved no campaign literature from this candidate and can find none online. Please see party pledges below.

 

Peter Makin for Conservative

We have recieved no campaign literature for this candidate and can find none online.  Please see party pledges below.

Dave Wells for the Green Party

We have revieved no campaign literature for this candidate and can find none online.  Please see party pledges below.

 

Duffield and Belper South
Currently Conservative

Candidates standing in Duffield and Belper South:

Carol Angharad for Labour

 

Carol is a retired social care worker who campaigns for Belper’s Keep Our NHS Public, including fighting for bed numbers, keeping NHS services in Belper and keeping the NHS publicly funded.  She is passionate about public transport and youth opportunities and funding. She opposes fracking.

Click here to see Carol Angharad’s campaign leaflet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeremy Benson for Liberal Democrats

We have recieved no campaign literature from this candidate and can find none online. Please see party pledges below.

 

Stuart Bradford as an Independent

Stuart is the incumbent candidate, serving Cowhill, Bargate, Milford, Duffield and Quarndon. He is a retired company director from Turnditch and is currently a Conservative Councillor but is standing without a recorded party in this election. He has been Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Finance, Management and Regeneration Improvement and Scrutiny Committee and was the Leader of Amber Valley Borough Council where he represented Duffield.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sue MacFarlane for the Green Party

Sue opposes fracking and building on green field sites. She has been passionate about refugees, legal aid and environmental protection.

“I joined the Green Party in 2014, after having been ‘in sympathy’ with its values for many years. I joined because I wanted to be part of the change we need to make our society fairer and more sustainable. Having joined, I spent some time reading Green Party policy, and recognised that some of the issues I was already interested in (Citizen’s Income, re-nationalisation of the railways, opposition to TTIP, opposition to fracking etc) were aligned to Green Party thinking. I quickly became active in the local party, and am working to give people a chance to vote Green at all levels of government.”

She can be heard here doing an Any Questions session on Radio Derby.

 

 

Chris Short for Conservative

Chris is a retired product manager, an Amber Valley Borough Councillor and a member of Duffield Parish Council. He wants to develop Derwent Street, defend our World Heritage Status (which is risked by building development, especially housing) and push for additional support for the Blue Box Project on the Parks Estate (which is a community project aiming to “increase opportunity”) which he previously secured money for to rebuild a community space.

 

Party Pledges:

These promises are made by the local branch of each political party and all of the candidates for the relevant party are making these promises.

Labour

• Create thousands of apprenticeships and invest in employment and skills
• Fight for proper funding for our NHS, schools and social care
• Create an energy provider to reduce your energy bills
• Provide free travel throughout Derbyshire for registered carers
• Fight to keep free bus passes and winter Fuel Allowances for all pensioners
  

Click here for full manifesto

 

Conservative

• Restart £30m Care Programme to provide new modern care homes
• Invest £10m to unblock hospital beds
• Tackle the state of roads and reverse Labour cuts to road maintenance
• Reverse Labour’s cuts to community transport
• Create 1,000 new apprenticeships and work experience placements
• Protect libraries from cuts and closures
• Provide 750 youth activity grants and 70 Derbyshire Sport and Community Action grants
• Develop a Derbyshire Carers support scheme to provide 5,000 half day breaks for carers
• Offer 500 grants to support community safety projects, neighbourhood watch schemes and anti-fraud initiatives
• Carry out 5,000 home health, safety and welfare checks
• Ensure Derbyshire gets full broadband coverage
  

The Amber Valley Conservative Party has made a false claim about Labour spending in their election material, stating that Labour have stashed £233million into reserve funds.  Contrary to this, Labour spent the £77million that the Conservatives stashed away during their leadership and spent significantly more. These account records are freely available on the County Council website.

Click here for full manifesto

 

Liberal Democrats

The Lib Dems have not made pledges but identified four areas of focus:

• Our Liberal Democracy
• Our Liberal Economy
• Our Liberal Environment
• Our Liberal Society
  

They otherwise want to cut council spending.

Local manifesto not available.

 

The Green Party

“The Green Party believes that policies at all levels of government should put the public first.  We want a society that supports everyones needs; a society that is just, equitable and sustainable. We believe that by ensuring each individual voice is heard and listened to, we can achieve our goal of building a society and political system that works for everyone.”

“We want issues that people tell us they are concerned about affordable housing, sustainable energy, good air quality, better public transport, education, a publicly provided and funded NHS and safe travel by bicycle – to be on the agenda at national, county, borough and local level.”
Local manifesto not available.

 

 

Note:  It has been brought to our attention that some Belper residents have not recieved their polling cards.  If you are lacking your polling card but are registered to vote then don’t despair, you can still vote.  Turn up at your usual local polling station between 7am and 10pm and you can vote with just your name and address.  Please report any lack of polling cards to the County Council (but do let us know too).