Thank you to everyone who supported the Liberal Democrats at the elections on May 5th. The result in our community was:
Conservative – 1406
Lib Dem – 1050
Labour – 406
Green – 171
In Prettygate I almost doubled my vote, unfortunately it was not quite enough, but it has closed the gap between me and the Conservatives. I am determined to keep standing up for our community – and fighting for local people – whoever they supported.

Across Colchester the Lib Dems took three seats from the Conservatives, including Stanway, the seat of the Conservative leader of the Borough Council. We kept our position as the 2nd largest party on the Borough Council and have successfully formed a Lib Dem led administration at the Town Hall, which is already producing improvements for local residents.

Across the UK the Lib Dems were the big winners in May’s elections. We gained over 200 councillors across the country. More and more people are turning to the Lib Dems as the positive choice to deliver a fairer society.
Join our growing team here in Prettygate ward

Lib Dems in Rayleigh are celebrating after winning three by-elections in one day.

James Newport won the Rayleigh North Essex County Council Division with a massively increased majority. Jim Cripps won the Downhall & Rawreth District Council seat and Elizabeth Brewer won the Rayleigh Grange Town Council seat.

All three vacancies resulted from the tragic death of Lib Dem Councillor Craig Cannell, at the age of 32. James Newport dedicated his victory to Craig and to Chris Black, another Lib Dem Councillor who died five years ago. In his victory speech James Newport said “Craig and Chris were my inspiration during this campaign”.

The Lib Dems have been campaigning against the threat to Rayleigh facilities like Mill Hall and Civic Suite with its beautiful gardens in the Rayleigh Conservation area.

Although there is a ‘review’ of plans for Mill Hall (which remains shut after giving great service as a vaccination centre during the pandemic) the Conservative run Council still want to sell off Civic Suite and gardens to property developers to build flats and other high density flats and housing. The Lib Dems were also campaigning for repair of the many potholes and broken pavements that blight the town.

James Newport told the Echo, “some of the pothole repairs have been very poor, they often start to deteriorate after a matter of weeks. With the huge volumes of traffic being generated these days by overdevelopment in Rayleigh, we really need first class permanent repairs, for the safety of local people whether they be drivers, cyclists or pedestrians”.

The results

Rayleigh North, Essex County Council

Liberal Democrats (James Newport) – 1,658
Conservative – 929
Independent – 164
Labour – 137

Downhall & Rawreth, Rochford District Council

Liberal Democrats (Jim Cripps) – 791
Conservative – 265
Labour – 51

Grange, Rayleigh Town Council

Liberal Democrats (Elizabeth Brewer) – 675
Conservative – 228

Local Lib Dem campaigner John Loxley is calling for more support for people in Prettygate & Lexden to meet the growing cost of living crisis. He is distributing a survey to local residents to see how price rises are affecting them and what support they need.

The cost of living rose by 5.4% between December 2020 and December 2021. It is now at its highest rate for 10 years. With energy, fuel and food prices all rising – everyone in Prettygate & Lexden has been affected in one way or another:

• Household heating prices have soared since the Energy Price Cap was lifted in October. 15 million homes pay £139 more for their heating and this could increase further in the Spring.

• Supermarket food prices have risen by 1.1% – the biggest increase since the 2008 crash – while stock on the shelves is at its lowest point since 1983.

• Filling a tank of petrol is on average £12 more expensive than it was a year ago. Fuel is set to hit a record high in 2022.

This is a time when the Government should be giving people a helping hand – however the Conservatives are instead making life even harder. They have increased National Insurance, cut Universal Credit and capped Pension rises so they don’t keep pace with wage increases.

Instead the Conservatives are proposing a “loan” for £200 which all future energy customers would have to repay regardless of whether they received the £200 or not.

The Lib Dems would tackle the growing cost of living by doubling the Warm Homes Discount to cut bills, scrapping the unfair Tory National Insurance hike, forcing broadband providers to offer cheaper tariffs and imposing a windfall tax on mega-profits of oil and gas companies.

There is no issue more important than reducing poverty. Help us make that happen by filling in the survey today. You can complete John Loxley’s cost of living survey HERE

Future collections in Prettygate and Lexden:
Clairmont Road – 24 July & 04 September, 9.30am – 10.45am
Van Dyke Road – 07 August & 18 September, 9.30am – 10.45am

For full information see https://www.colchester.gov.uk/info/cbc-article/?id=KA-03708