10 Apr 2024
District Tories have rebranded themselves as ‘Local Conservatives’ for the purpose of fighting the forthcoming council elections.
Spokesperson Frances Leonard explained: “We had three choices for our description on the Electoral Commission website for our candidates’ nomination papers. As we are so close to a General Election, we decided to highlight the local nature of the vote on May 2.
“It is important that residents are aware that their decision in May will have no impact on national politics, but could fundamentally impact their day-to-day lives.
”Locally, we have a Lib Dem super-majority, that means they can make decisions with only limited scrutiny.
“Because of this, they are making serious mistakes that are costing residents dear. They will lose millions from their failed ventures into property development and their huge increases in costs in green bins, parking, licences and to our retailers are needed to pay for this.
”They are incompetent at running the finances of the council and have been unable to get their books externally audited for years because money has ‘gone missing’. We need an effective opposition to stop this nonsense.
“We are also ‘local’ because of the candidates we are choosing. For instance, our young team of Harpenden candidates have mostly grown up here. They are committed to getting the best for local people, not to a political agenda that raids people’s pockets to pay for an anti-Green Belt, anti-car, ageist agenda.”
Departing Lib Dem leader Cllr Chris White responded to the name change: “This is a novelty. There is clearly a desire for the Conservatives in this district to distance themselves from the party nationally, even if legally and practically they are one and the same thing. This speaks volumes about the responses they must be getting in the doorstep!”
