The Commissioners have restored good order. But they have failed to tackle profligate municipal spending and the high Council Tax burden on residents that results from it.
Smashing the boundaries between social classes is exactly the reason to be a Conservative in local government. That is my message to my neighbours in Guildford.
Some of my ideas have come about and others haven’t, but it’s more than a whimsical simile that local government turns slower than an oil tanker.
The tally of candidate nominations offers some encouragement for the Conservatives, with the low number from Reform UK. But an anti-Conservative electoral pact in Waverley may be a source of anxiety.
Labour is confident in Swindon. But what of its traditional territory such as Stoke and Hull?
Even the software we are given to create leaflets is years out of date, not even allowing collaborative working across toolkit accounts. Would it really hurt CCHQ to make our lives a little easier by giving us up to date systems?
In the start of our series, we look at the metropolitan boroughs. Dudley, Sandwell, and Walsall will be among the ones to watch.
We will be working to take control and reverse the decades of devastation that the Council has subjected our city to.
This is not to mention closing the roads in the city centre, a legacy of trying to enforce pedestrianisation.
Services are not as good as they should be, particularly in call centre response times and housing repairs, including damp and mould. Residents are entitled to expect better.
Linking our vast regeneration programme to growth for all our residents remains crucial if we are to provide the jobs, education and skills for the future.
Assembly members, council leaders, and MPs have noted the strength of feeling in their inboxes and on the doorstep. The issue stands out amidst a general climate of apathy.
The Conservative platform must promise the core Conservative voter a return to competent government, and promise the progressive voter, strategic future-looking policy innovation.
Elections must be seen to be free and fair; one step is to ensure that fraud is reduced to the minimum.
I am so proud of the developments we have seen in the last week. It is proof that the Prime Minister is a man who will deliver for the nation.