North West Liberals
Regional President Viv Bingham
North West Regional Chair Gill Gardiner
European campaign planning, various by-elections around the Region, organising invitations for the North West reception at Federal Conference.
Our Best Results Yet
June 2004 saw record council seat gains in the North West. We had an excellent night across the region, taking us to a new record of 597 seats, a record 64 net gains across the region, on principal authorities across the region. This on top of a projected national vote share of 30% -
Cheshire : Chester we are the largest party on the counci.l. In Vale Royal we took four more seats.
Cumbria : Largest party on South Lakeland
Greater Manchester :- In Manchester we made an overall gain of eleven seats - including Euro Team member Qassim Afzal taking Cheetham Hill in the North of the city. Largest Party on Rochdale, Bolton. Majority in Stockport
Lancashire :- Lim Dem's have the balance of power in Rossendale . Largest Party in Chester, Majority in Pendle
Merseyside :- On Knowsley council, regional Chair Dave Smithson and his colleagues gained three seats. Largest Party in Sefton. Majority in Liverpool.
| Overall Gains | Overall Losses | |
| 11 Manchester | 1 Chorley | |
| 7 Bolton (now largest party) | 3 Liverpool (overall seat reductions mean our majority increases to 30!) | |
| 7 Halton | 1 Macclesfield | |
| 6 Pendle (gained council) | 1 South Lakeland | |
| 5 Sefton (now largest party) | ||
| 5 Warrington | ||
| 4 Wigan | ||
| 3 Wirral | ||
| 3 Rochdale (largest party) | ||
| 3 Salford | ||
| 3 St Helens | ||
| 2 Burnley | ||
| 2 Carlisle | ||
| 2 Congleton | ||
| 1 Blackburn with Darwen | ||
| 1 Bury | ||
| 1 Chester (largest party) | ||
| 1 Crewe | ||
| 1 Oldham | ||
| 1 Stockport (control) | ||
| 1 Tameside |
North West Lieutenancies
Police numbers nationally continue to fall . Home Office figures confirm that the number of full time equivalent officers fell nationally by seven in the period March to September 2000. Losing crucial middle ranks with years of experience 53 lost above constable rank in the same period. Liverpool City Council recruited 12 officers with local money.
The conference voted for:
1. provision of resources for Chief Constables
2. honesty with the public about failure to halt the decline in Police numbers nationally.
3. cutting bureaucracy of multiple form filling and to provide equipment to assist with the completion of necessary paperwork.
Regional Government in the North West
As the only party philosophically committed to decentralisation, the Liberal Democrats have long advocated devolution of powers from the centre to directly elected regional government in the English Regions.
Regional Planning Guidance and Peripheral Areas
Liberal Democrats in the North West should call upon the North West Regional Assembly to:-
Local Government - Democratic and Accountable
Top Job for Council Boss
Stockport Council leader, liberal Democrat councillor Fred Ridley, on the Board of the North West Regional Development Agency(RDA). This Ministerial appointment followed a formal selection process under 'Nolan Rules' and there were over 370 applicants.
The RDA Board of 13 is responsible for regional regeneration funds of over £200 million. Fred's special responsibility is to ensure that small business benefits from and participates in regeneration.
Cllr Ridley told 'Focus': "There is a huge challenge ahead, both for the me personally and for the RDA Board. I am delighted and proud to have been appointed to the Board and look forward to working to help provide a sound economic future for the North West of England."
Liberal Democrats and political pundits alike have hailed the party's gaining of Stockport as a major victory for the party. Following the magnificent victory to take control of Liverpool last May, hopes were high for equal success in Stockport this year. Lib Dems took two seats for overall control, from both Labour and conservatives. Local campaigners were delighted at the victory. Commenting on the result Hazel Grove MP Andrew Stunnel said: "Campaign '99 has had a great launch pad in the run of by-election wins. This success has continued by us gaining control of Stockport Council.
News in Brief
Nuclear Weapons Debate
 |
North West Liberal Democrats call for an open debate on the replacement of the Trident Nuclear Deterrent due to be decommissioned in 2020. It seems to be a foregone conclusion that Trident will be replaced with another Nuclear Weapon System. Further questions need to be asked about the value of the new system which will cost many billions of pounds. Is Britain to remain part of the American deterrent? Are we being used as an American military base? Should we pay such a large amount for system that we are not in full control of. We might be able to stop the use of our Nuclear Deterrent but can we ever use it without permission of the USA. The large American economy can easily afford the amount of money in question but why should Britain pay such a large share of its GNP to foreign weapon systems? Should Europe play a greater role in the defence budget? |
The North West Regional Assembly (2005)
1. The Assembly is contracted by Government Office North West [GONW] to:
2. To carry out these, NWRA receives approx £2.5m pa. from GONW Subscriptions from the 56 LA's currently add £0.5m but 8 LA's have given notice to leave in April 2006, which would result in a loss of approx £70k pa.
3. The make up of the party political voting members of the Assembly [ LA's are allocated votes on the basis of size - Each LA decides which political party gets how many votes. This leads to controlling party councillors having more votes than the electoral proportionality of the Local Authority. Another group involved is the Economic & Social Partners [ESP] that get 72 of the 210.5 votes.]
4. To take account of the unrepresentative political nature of the Assembly, there was an Management Committee of 10 seats with an electoral proportionality. Places on Key Priority Groups [KPG], the main advisory groups to the Policy Committee, were divided with electoral proportionality.
5. New Constitution : A new constitution was approved on 15th July 2005. LD's at the meeting. This will result in an Executive Board of 18 - 3 from each Lieutenancy and 3 ESP. The Exec Brd will coordinate the Regional Planning Board, the Regional Housing and Transport Board and the representatives on the Regional Investment Board [RIB]. The RIB is jointly run with GONW and the RDA.
The 3 members from the Lieutenancies will be determined locally and should be at Leader/Dpty Leader Level. Again this leads to non proportional representation of the electorate in the North West.
Tuition Fees Crisis
CLLr Tim Farron Liberal Democrat Higher Education Spokesperson for the North West, has hit out at University entrance bosses, accusing them of becoming 'political spin doctors' and 'massaging' information about applications to universities. While the university entrance chief was reporting a 'Boom Year for Higher Education' The North West has been hit particularly hard hit. Applications to Salford University are down 8.4%; Liverpool down by 10.6%; Manchester Metropolitan down by 10.1%; and Central Lancashire down by 13.3%. These downward trends will effect the ability of some universities to maintain courses and standards and above invest in new facilities. Cllr Tim Farron said: "UCAS was set up to provide an independent service to universities and students. Its role is to provide that service, not put political spin on information it provides. "UCAS has a responsibility to face reality and accept that the latest statistics on applications to higher education are deeply worrying. "Higher Education is heading for another crisis, forced upon it by ill thought out government policy and continued underfunding. The liberal Democrats said the introduction of tuition fees would have a negative effect on applications, and so it has proven. UCAS should not be pedalling a pro-government line when they need to be highlighting the looming crisis."
Blow To Hopes For Rail Link
Angry Liberal Democrats met in North West to discuss news that Railtrack has secretly downgraded plans for the long awaited improvement of the West Coast Main Line, the vital rail link which connects the entire North West region with London. The Liberal Democrats are furious at the revalation that Railtrack intends only to refurbish the track to London rather than re-engineer it and build a new railway for the next century. It means that even when the work is finished conventional trains will not be able to run any faster than the 175 Kilometers per hour(110mph) . Only the new tilting trains being purchased by Richard Branson's Virgin West coast will be able to reach speeds of 225 KPH but even these will have to slow down North of Crewe
From Crewe to Carlisle
A Major part of the 2004 European and Local Election campaign was the North West Battlebus which toured the region in May. Covering nearly 2,000 miles from Whitehaven to Crewe (plenty of stops in-between!) , the bus supported local campaigns, visited town centres and received excellent press coverage on all daysof the trip. The team campaigned on a number of issues including Axe The Tax and Saving Local Post Offices as well as travelling down many streets with the loud hailer telling people about the elections. Thanks to the organisers Jackie Wilson and Chris Blackburn, all the constituency workers who arranged the individual visits, the many Lib Dems who joined us along the way, B.D. Signs and K. Matt Coaches of Chaddeton for what was a very successful part of the campaign trail.
North West Regional Government
An Act to allow the Government to call a referendum on this issue is now on the statute books. Liberal Democrats are strongly in favour of devolving power from London to the North West, but what is being offered?
By-Election Success
Lib Dem success in council by-elections across the region has continued through the winter of 1998-1999. Gains have been made in St Helens and Congleton and seats in Hawkshead and St. Helens have been defended with increased majorities. Our regional Euro team have been active in all of these elections. The Liberal Democrats have emerged as the clear winners from the 26 North West by-elections since last May, winning 38% of all votes cast. Not a single seat has been lost. The key message is an old one, where we work hard we win.
Liberal Democrats have been racking up victory after victory across the region in local council by elections. The party with gains in Pendle, Manchester, Wigan and St. Helens and with successful holds in Cheadle Hulme, Warrington, Kendal and St. Helens, the party goes from strength to strength. liberal democrats are leading the poll in all by-elections in the region since May '98 with 38% of the vote, labour on 35% and the Conservatives are in third place on 22%. Commenting on the the by-election sucesses, European Election campaigns chief, Hilary Stephenson said: "This is the perfect launch pad for the campaign ahead. The Lib Dems are clearly a force to be reckoned with across the region. Where we work we win. Delivering an effective campaign in May and now for June we will win."