Cllr Nick O'Hare, elected as a Councillor in 2002, was the last elected Lib Dem here in Bexley. Shortly after, he defected to the Tories and there has never been a Lib Dem on the council since.
For the past 20 years, we have failed miserably to win a single election that we have contested in Bexley. We have faced loss after loss, enduring beat down after beat down, but despite the knock downs, we have always picked ourselves back up and kept fighting for Bexley residents.
Our love for our community is like no other. We continue to help local residents and we are always there for those who find themselves most in need. We support local businesses, and want services that are most beneficial to society to be continuously evolving and operational.
However, the council constantly finds itself in a state of flux, and the only thing we seem to be consistently good at is pantomime politics and making things worse.
Bexley council has a history of bouncing back and forth between red and blue. Things stay blue for a while, go back to red, then returning to blue again and the problems never seem to go away.
Council taxes have increased this year, because so long as there is a widening gap in the budget, money will continuously need to be raised. Nearly every year, we have seen council taxes being raised yet the budget gap is still widening.
For the past 10 years, despite the “efficiency savings” and cuts to local services, along with the millions of pounds saved in spending, the gap to the budget is becoming a deeper hole needing to be filled with lots of cash that we don’t have.
There appears to be no progressive strategy in place to deal with this issue. It’s like having a leaking roof with lots of holes, and instead of replacing the roof, they are placing their hand over each hole to try and prevent the water from coming in.
Each year we are informed that the council have put together a ‘balanced budget’, yet each year we are no better off and still having to pay more anyway the following year. This is unsustainable and creating a calamity for the future.
An important note to make is that this would be the case no matter who is leading the council at this present moment. It is worse for cuts to public services under the Tories due to them trying to balance the books and financially worse under Labour, as running additional services costs money.
So if council taxes and/or business rates are not raised, then it will result in an increase in borrowing and debt - no matter how you try to frame it.
Regardless of such things, it’s not about attacking the Tories or Labour here. That’s not what I’m attempting to do. On the contrary, my argument is, simply to say, that by doing so reinforces the status quo. A status quo that benefits Labour and the Tories.
One party attempts to convince the public that the other party is the ‘bad guy’ so the other party can capitalise at the next election. This is a regressive type of politics and does not benefit Bexley.
Labour and the Tories are failing to be progressive with their politics due to their history of tribalism. There is clear division and a lack of cooperation to resolve our issues. There are times when Labour propose a really decent policy yet it is always voted against simply because they are wearing a different colour.
Equally, Labour are not innocent when it comes to this, as they have done exactly the same to the Tories and Lib Dems. A Tory policy, no matter how good or bad, is automatically seen as a ‘sin’ and voted against by Labour. For many years, local people have not benefited because of this political infighting.
For liberals, we do our best to be better and to stay away from tribal matters. We are mostly concerned regarding how local people are struggling to keep up with their bills. We are concerned about families having to make the tough choice between putting food on the table or heating the house.
We are concerned about women not being safe on our streets, and how we are seeing anti social behaviour in the borough and other types of crime among many other things. The policies to tackle such problems are not preventative nor restorative but based on punitive measures that fail to address the cause.
Being in politics opens your eyes to many things. For many candidates, agents, campaign managers and other political big wigs, the only thing they appear to be interested in is data and finding out who’s going to win.
When some politicians carrying their clipboards knock on your door, they aren’t actually interested in your concerns, they just want to collate data to see if you are going to vote for them or not.
Most political parties do this in order to target their campaigns; labelling you as soft or hard supporters. This data becomes an obsession and like food to them.
I’ve never been a supporter of this. It is not my style. I am probably one of the minority who actually does not collect data as I like to build up rapports with my neighbours and those living in our community.
The former Lib Dem MP, Sir Simon Hughes, could walk down any road in Southwark and would know the name of the person talking to him. That’s the type of attitude to have in my view. That’s the type of politics that I aspire to.
When politicians go out data collecting, it’s almost like begging for information and I don’t want to gain a vote for nothing. If I gain a vote it’s because I’ve earned it. That’s my philosophy to it all. I don’t like the idea of treating everyone I speak to as a tick or a cross.
They are human beings with emotions, feelings, and I would like to be able to say “oh yes, Mrs Reynolds, I know her, she knows me” rather than reading a script at the door and only finding out the person’s name seconds before knocking. Because that’s what they all do.
When I am knocking on your door, I want to make sure you are ok and if you need help. Helping others has always been something that I am passionate about. it is one of the main reasons as to why I joined the Lib Dems because I found that I was not alone in this.
The established political parties just want to see their opponents take a kicking in the polls, and to see how many more seats they’ve won. How many their political opponents have lost.
Sadly, very little is achieved in politics because it is tribal, a game to some and very self-centred to others. They have lost track with what truly matters. The people.
If you live in Bexley and really want to make a difference, I would really love for you to give us a shot. I’m so tired of constantly hearing “I’m not voting because they are all the same”. Every time I hear this, I completely feel the same pain because deep down I know that you are right!
But there is only one way to change the way things are and that is to give someone else a chance by changing the way you vote.
On Thursday 5th May, there is a real opportunity to break a 20 year cycle of tribalism here in Bexley. The power for change is in your hands. Voting Lib Dems will mean that you will have people on the council who are in your corner.
We would like to see both Labour and the Tories working together to put this great Borough first. We would encourage compromise and cooperation so that Bexley residents get the best they possibly can from this council.
We will produce new ideas to help deal with the budget gap and help by drawing up preventative measures so we aren’t always acting on hindsight.
Will it be another four years of the same, or something different? You decide.
Published and promoted by Paul Hurren on behalf of Bexley Liberal Democrats both of 15 Heron House, Lansdown Road, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 4EG