Following the biggest majority ever overturned in a by-election as seen last night in Tiverton and Honiton, the Tory Blue wall is now crumbling. Tories now fear losing their seats in the next General Election, and are distancing themselves from Boris Johnson, as seen this morning in Oliver Dowden's decision to step down as Chair of the Conservative Party.
"The British people are fed up of having their expectations managed. For years, Boris Johnson has said things will get better. But things keep getting worse. So let me tell the Prime Minister: the British people expect to be led, and to be led with decency." Ed Davey
Sutton Liberal Democrats have declared the next election is a clear choice between Boris Johnson’s Conservatives or a local Liberal Democrat champion as the Conservative vote continues to crumble across the country.
Due to the untimely passing of an independent candidate, the local elections of councillors in the ward of New Malden of Kingston Council was postponed from 5 May to 23 June.
The size of the swing from Conservatives to Lib Dems that was seen in the fantastic win for Richard Foord in Tiverton and Honiton was almost 30% (29.9%).
At the full council meeting on 23rd June 2022 Rushmoor Conservative Councillors voted for a 14% a basic wage rise from £5,425 to £6,200. The vote was 21 in favour and 10 against. The Conservative leader and some senior Councillors spent the evening telling councillors that the independent report recommended the increase so it should be accepted because it was independent and councillors are not paid as much as other councillor's in other authorities. 21 councillors get a further Special Responsibility Allowances totalling £105,650 Several Conservatives made comparisons with Guildford, Southampton and Hampshire to show the difference between how much those Councillors are paid compared to Rushmoor Councillors which are not comparable with Rushmoor.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
