LOCAL ELECTIONS: Parties make last pleas to voters

One third of the 90 seats on Bradford Council will be up for grabs.

Ahead of the elections, we asked every party fielding five or more candidates to issue a last minute plea to readers for their votes.

LABOUR

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford District Labour Group, said: “The important issues you tell us about on the doorstep and throughout the year determine our priorities. Support with the cost of living. Cleaner, safer streets. More jobs and leisure opportunities. Better transport. Decent, affordable housing.

“Local Labour’s response to the Tory Cost of Living Crisis has been extensive. We have helped set up more than 200 warm spaces across Keighley, Shipley and Bradford; we delivered summer holiday activities to 19,000 children, many on free school meals; we launched a scheme with the Credit Union to help families with school uniform costs; we delivered funding to foodbanks and local charities.

“We invest in our place and in better services. Last year we treated 712 miles of road with grit on every priority 1 run, we have purchased 15 mobile cameras in addition to 55 fixed CCTV cameras to deter and catch fly-tippers, we are investing £6m in parks and play areas across the district and we are supporting the police to tackle dangerous driving and antisocial behaviour. We are planting a tree for every child, we are delivering new street lights to cut power consumption by 65% and carbon emissions by over 6,000 tonnes a year and we have recruited more neighbourhood wardens to help keep local areas clean and safe. We allocate the majority of the council’s budget to care and support for vulnerable children and adults.

“We are creating a better future. Delivering over £58m of Towns Fund projects across Shipley and Keighley. An exciting new wave of regeneration reflected in the cranes you see above Bradford. A world class music venue, first-rate office space, a fantastic new market. Business confidence in Bradford is growing, attracted by our positive vision and wanting to be part of the thrilling 2025 UK City of Culture which will be enjoyed in every part of the district.

“If you vote Labour on May 4th, you vote for a local councillor who fights your corner.”

CONSERVATIVE

“Labour run Bradford Council has consistently failed to prioritise the key services most valued by local people, focussing instead on expensive pet projects, whilst the Conservative Group on the Council has been the only consistent opposition to this recipe for disaster.  The Conservative Group voted against the reductions in Foster Carer’s Allowances and pressed for early increases in the pay of Children’s Social Care workers, as we could foresee the subsequent failings which have resulted in these services being rated by Ofsted as “inadequate”.  The Labour led Council have now had Children’s Social Care removed from their control into an external trust and costing tens of millions more pounds than our proposals to alleviate the problems would have cost. The Labour led Council cannot be trusted to run services for children and have taken no responsibility for failing our children.   All Conservative Councillors have fought against damaging schemes such as the Charging Clean Air Zone which has caused much distress and needless expense to local residents, businesses and our local economy. We will continue to fight for the replacement of this scheme with alternative emission reduction plans which do not do so much damage.

“Many local residents are largely unaware of the scale of the Council’s mismanagement of its finances and some will be blinded by the, “the government don’t give us enough” narrative. The scary truth of the matter is that the council’s mismanagement of children’s services, spending on white elephant regeneration schemes and cultural niceties, coupled with budgeting errors, is likely to leave the Council technically bankrupt in roughly a year. This clear incompetence of the Labour administration cannot continue as it will affect and cost every resident across the District. 

“The only way to ensure that the Council prioritises the services that are actually valued and needed by local residents is to vote for the only political group which identifies and opposes the chaos.  Only Conservative Councillors can bring common sense solutions to Labours incompetence.”

GREEN PARTY

“A vote for a Green Party candidate is a vote for the local community. Green councillors are already getting things done for their areas. Our councillors have a track record of standing up for our communities and prioritising what matters to local residents.

“Whether it’s speaking up for green space or pushing for action to make transport more affordable and accessible, having a Green representing your community is someone who will be a local champion speaking out on behalf of residents and local communities.

“Greens have joined community groups fighting to save green spaces from being lost to housing developments. Instead, we have pushed for the new, affordable homes we need to be built on the many brownfield sites across our district crying out for redevelopment.

“Greens will tackle the cost of living crisis by setting up a single cost of living crisis team to help support residents who are at breaking point. Nationally, we would invest billions in helping everyone make their homes more energy efficient – helping reduce bills in the long term - all funded by a windfall tax on big energy companies.

“Greens are pushing for action to tackle the litter and fly-tipping crisis across our district. We would be much tougher on rogue waste collection traders who collect waste for a fee and then fly-tip it in other parts of the district.

“Greens are the only party that can be trusted to put our environment first.

“The Conservative Party has let our country and our district down. Labour are failing to offer any of the solutions we need to turn our district around.  “We are the only party locally challenging both Labour on how they run our Council and the Conservatives nationally for their mismanagement of our economy and public services.

“Voters across the district are telling us that they want fairer, greener communities. The best way to achieve that is to vote Green on Thursday.”

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

“As residents head to the polls across the district. Liberal Democrats candidates across the district offer a real alternative to a Labour Council who have failed our Children and wasted tens of millions of pounds of vanity projects.

“Local Labour incompetence has been matched by a Conservative Government that crashed the economy, failed protect family incomes and continues to lurch from one scandal to the next. It deeply concerning for residents, and I know that many Labour and Conservative voters will be considering sitting out Thursday’s vote.

“Liberal Democrats in Bradford are focused in three key areas. Tackling crime, better public services and improving our local environment.

“We are campaigning for more Police and resources to tackle crime. Anti-social behaviour is rampant in many communities, people feel ignored, and many are losing hope that things can improve. Liberal Democrats will tackle this head on working with Police and other authorities to crack down on hotspots of trouble and focus resources and services on the source of the problem.

Labour have run the Council for over a decade and there are not many who think our area is better than it was then. Services in neighbourhoods have been cut back you cannot walk down streets without seeing the signs of litter, weeds, and broken pavements. Liberal Democrats would re-focus the Councils neighbourhood services ensure every area has environmental wardens and we would invest fixing up the public realm in every neighbourhood.

“The Conservative Government won’t help sort our Bradford, that is down to us. It is time to show Labour the door in Bradford. Use your vote to support the Liberal Democrats on Thursday and help us to deliver a Safer, Cleaner and Fairer District.”

YORKSHIRE PARTY

“The people of Bradford deserve politicians who will put people before party-line. Labour and the Tories have neglected Bradford for decades; infrastructure is crumbling, crime rates remain high and services are failing. Change is needed.

“Social services urgently require improvement, to support the most vulnerable people in society and protect them from crime, especially children. Children are also failed in terms of education quality. In both cases, the Government provides too little funding for Yorkshire councils, while the local council mismanages what money is available.

“The council must get to grips with the housing crisis, working with developers to convert ex-industrial sites into housing. The Yorkshire Party supports greener homes, with solar panels and proper insulation, including lower-cost starter-homes, social housing and retirement homes.

“Similarly, when new developments are approved, community facilities – GPs, dentists, shops and post offices, for example – need to be planned in with them, and the transport network built to cope with these new houses.

“For renters, Yorkshire Party members in the district have already been heavily involved with helping tenants and ensuring that landlords are made to live up to their obligations. Think what we could achieve if elected.

“The Bradford clean air zone has not solved air pollution and has penalised people who have no choice about where they drive work-vehicles.  The Yorkshire Party would reform this, while looking to make Bradford a leader in electric vehicle use by developing a dense network of recharging points. We would strongly lobby the Government to restore Bradford to the planned high-speed rail network.

“The two-party system has failed Bradford. Only voting for your region's party will make them listen - force them to take Yorkshire's problems seriously.

“If the Yorkshire Party wins, Yorkshire wins.”