Last year I blogged about the City’s desire to see the back of Labour and how voting for an Independent in Oakwood Ward would have no bearing on this. You can read that article here.
This year the Conservative party are making claims that voting for any other party will return Labour to power. This is highly unlikely as I would expect them to gain in at least 2 seats (Chaddesden and Derwent – based on current councillors’ work in these wards) and there are other wards where Labour are likely to lose seats as well.
Phil Ingall recently spoke about how he would support the current administration if he got elected as an independent in Chellaston, picking out specifically the brown bins, the Assembly Rooms and Duckworth Square. Whether I would go as far as supporting all of their proposals would need careful consideration and access to all the information, but what I can assure residents is that I will be taking your views into consideration and where possible keeping you informed about the reasons for my decisions based on this.
In short, the Conservative administration doesn’t need to be worried about losing a seat to an Independent candidate in Oakwood Ward, as long as they have robust planning and costings in place and can convince me that their proposals are good value for money and for the benefit of the City’s residents.
What voting for me will give Oakwood Ward is a more diverse representation on the council. (Read the BBC article about the make up of local councils nationally here) I already have contact with a great many residents from all walks of life through the local school, Girl Guiding, church activities and community events. I live in the ward and share the experiences of everyone living here. What you won’t get is a representative bound by a party whip who can’t express the views of residents freely and vote accordingly.
Alex Dann - Independent Candidate for Oakwood Councillor 