With Town and District elections scheduled for May 7th, the local Labour Party launched it’s manifesto in Bridgwater today with a parade by candidates through the streets to the King’s Square offices of Sedgemoor District Council from where it aims to evict the Tories .
Labour are standing 24 candidates across the district and hoping to build on their current showing of 13 Councillors by making gains in and around Bridgwater plus the key marginal of Highbridge. 9 sitting Labour councillors are standing again and 15 newcomers including 9 women are putting themselves up for election across the district.
Labour Manifesto
The Labour manifesto promises the regeneration of town centres, respect for heritage and protection of green spaces, leisure and recreation development on Bridgwater’s Northgate, low carbon and renewable energy developments, homes to rent with long term secure tenancies, genuine community benefit from the Hinkley C project, a Somerset-wide public transport forum and skilled and well-paid job opportunities for local people, alongside national labour initiatives supported at local level such as the living wage and repeal of the bedroom tax, plus strategic imperatives like the Parrett surge barrage and a commitment to oppose any move to a 3 weekly refuse collection.
To see the Labour District Manifesto in full click here.
Tories under fire from all 4 corners
The Conservative controlled district council is under threat from a rainbow assortment of opponents ensuring that wherever they hold seats they are challenged by strong candidates from various parties that could eat away at and undermine their majority with some predictions suggesting there could be a hung council in Sedgemoor with no overall control. As Labour attacks them from their urban strongholds in Bridgwater and Highbridge, and their own coalition allies the Lib Dems attempt to put some clear yellow water between them and their former bedfellows in wards such as Burnham-on-sea, the Greens are taking the Tory leaders on head to head in rural wards such as East and West Polden and even those ‘fall-out Tories’ UKIP are offering a far-right alternative to the ruling group which is clearly worrying them.
Battle of the leaflets
Sedgemoor’s Labour campaign organiser Brian Smedley said “The first week will be a battle of the leaflets while parties introduce their candidates. After that there’ll doubtless be door knocking, street surgeries, hustings and hopefully by May 7th people will have settled their mind on which way they’re going to vote. Of course if people don’t want to be pestered, a good way to put off would-be -canvassers of any party is to ask us for a ‘Vote Labour’ poster to display in their window.”
For ‘vote labour’ posters or garden stakes contact us at sedgemoorlabour@gmail.com