25 Oct 2024
The Conservatives have seen a surprise renaissance in Harpenden after their candidate Sue Griffiths dealt the Liberal Democrats a bloody nose in Thursday’s by-election.
She won the ward of Harpenden North and Rural with 661 votes, an 18.7 per cent increase for the Tories.
Lib Dem James Robertson was in second place with 546, Green candidate Mario May received 82 votes, while Labour’s Ross Harper was in last place with 51.
One of the key platforms of Sue’s campaign was opposition to proposals by SADC’s Lib Dem administration to introduce fees for on-street car parking in the town.
She said: “It was clear that there has been a growing pushback against council plans to charge for on-street parking in and around Harpenden High Street. The council says they are necessary to raise money, but their plans to charge for on-street parking in the High Street are unfair, unwanted and a serious risk to the town’s vitality and future success.
“Coupled with the removal of senior parking permits, it makes the town centre an expensive no-go area for many people. Local retailers will be badly hit, particularly the small independents. These plans must be stopped or significantly amended.
“Having spoken to many residents they felt this was an opportunity for them to make their point against the proposed car parking charges. I wish to thank residents for voting, I feel privileged to be a district councillor and will work hard for the residents as their local councillor and scrutinise Lib Dem plans and keep residents informed and consulted.”
She added: “It is important to communicate and consult with residents to take account of their views. It has been clear from the many signatures to the petition, the council’s consultation and the turnout at Harpenden Town Council meeting that strong views were needed to be heard. Residents were willing to change their voting intention to send a message.”
Looking ahead, she is preparing to meet the challenges of future developments in the town: “Change is coming to Harpenden, with plans for thousands of new homes and the need to ensure the infrastructure needed to support them is put in place.
“I will listen to residents’ views and work to ensure they have a say in these plans. Harpenden is a great place to live. I will work hard to ensure it remains so.”
But Lib Dem candidate James Robertson does not believe the vote was swayed by parking.
He said: “It was clear from the very low turnout that voters were apathetic in what was the third election for them this year.
“While parking was the issue that came up most often, there was a far more balanced range of views expressed on the doorstep than the coverage suggests. Indeed, the Conservative vote did not increase from the May election, despite campaigning almost exclusively on parking. Lots of residents were equally focused on the importance of agreeing a Local Plan for housing, on healthcare, and on the local environment for example, all of which the Lib Dems have been championing.
“Having spoken to so many residents these past few weeks, the by-election has reminded us what we always knew about local politics: the importance of continuing to listen to and work hard for residents all year round. We also need to continue working with our amazing new MP Victoria Collins to get people the change they need.”
He hasn’t ruled out the prospect of standing for election again in future: “Never say never – it was a real privilege to speak first hand to so many residents and to work with such a committed team of people who care about making a positive difference.”
With the make-up of the district council now five Conservatives, 45 Lib Dems, three Greens, two Labour councillors and one Independent, we asked the administration for their reaction to the result.
Deputy leader Cllr Helen Campbell, who is lead for public realm, which includes car parking, said: “The biggest issue with this by-election, as with most by-elections where the incumbent party holds a large majority, was getting turnout from our supporters, especially as they had already voted twice in the past six months for local and national government candidates. Turnout was about half that of the previous district election in this ward.
“Other issues that came up on the doorstep that related to matters under district council control were the extension of parking charges and the impact of building more houses in the area.
“Liberal Democrats always analyse election results and feedback provided by constituents. Although we do not confine the latter to the electoral cycle, our stunning success in the General Election across the country just three months ago is testament to this.
“Specifically, in Harpenden and Berkhamsted, the main opposition candidate made ‘stopping”’parking charges central to his platform, whilst we focused on the issues that had most resonance with local residents, whether that was the sewage spewing into our local rivers, the state of our health and care services or an economy that was failing to deliver financial security for those on low and middle incomes. A 10,000 majority with the second highest turnout in the country speaks to the salience of those issues and how well we had listened to the concerns that really mattered to residents.
“So, we will digest this by-election result just as we have all elections before and consider, particularly, the motivations of our supporters who did not vote this time, as this clearly had the largest impact on the outcome.
“We offer our congratulations to the new Conservative councillor and look forward to learning what proposals she will bring forward in the current budget round to allow parking to remain free in the premium bays near the High Street, as her new colleagues were unable to articulate this during the last cycle. And they will all need to demonstrate that retention of free, on-street parking, around Harpenden High Street is an appropriate and fair response to the intense financial pressure being put on all district and borough councils by national government policy.
“As for the county council elections coming up next May, these will be fought on the issues that are the remit of the county council: adult social care, children’s services, the state of our roads and flood management.
“Everyone can see how poorly our drains are being maintained and the poor state of our roads. The Conservatives who have run the county council for many years may point to the lack of funding provided by government, as we do at district level, but they face the problem of defending their failure to make this case to their own party when it was in government. No amount of rebranding as ‘Local Conservatives’ is going to help them with that.
“And many local parents are, rightly, extremely angry about the failings of the county council around SEND provision, as evidenced in the recent OFSTED report which was utterly damning. Last week they were further appalled by the county Tories’ shameful filibustering of a debate on their performance put forward by the Liberal Democrats. We will ensure they will not be able to hide from this in our county election campaigning,
“We will also have much to say about our proposals for improving adult social care. It is a central plank of Liberal Democrat national policy. Locally we are doing considerable work to deliver for families faced with the multiple failings of provision here. And we will have more we will be able to say about this soon.”
