CAMPAIGN: Vote Them Out! County Councillors Ignore Somerset Residents (Again!)

Putting Somerset Residents First

UPDATE (16/8/20): As reported by the BBC's Local Democracy Reporting Service, Somerset Independents has applied to become a local political party. 

Leader Andrew Pope says this morning:

"We have been forced into doing this by the failure of the Westminster parties - Lib Dems, Tories, Labour and Greens - to back our call for a Referendum and Citizens Assembly to ask Somerset people how they are governed - not to have it imposed on them by local politicians who are party political puppets of Westminster."

"We will communicate again, if we decide to stand candidates in any elections, including next year's 2021 County Council elections."

For more information about Somerset Independents, please see our FAQs and the rest of this website. 

---

 

Somerset Independents Calls on Residents to Vote Councillors Out Who Don’t Back A Referendum and Citizens Assembly


Yesterday, 29th July 2020, we listened very carefully to all Somerset County Councillors speak at the virtual Full Council meeting where a majority of councillors voted through the “business case” for One Somerset – a proposal to scrap all four district councils and the County Council - and to replace them with one "Unitary Authority" with misleading and disingenuous arguments to rob Somerset residents of local representation.

It was good to hear from the members of the public that spoke against the proposal. Disgracefully, only one councillor out of around fifty present spoke up for a Referendum.

In June, our Leader Andrew Pope already spoke at Somerset County Council, calling for a Referendum and Citizens Assembly so that Somerset residents decide how they are governed – not politicians.

And we’ve written to every single district and county councillor on those five councils - some more than once. Since then, we have received positive responses to our proposal from some Independent and Liberal Democrat councillors, but nothing positive from Labour, Green or Conservative councillors - BREAKING (30/7/20) - one Sedgemoor Conservative District Councillor has now written in support of a Referendum.

Leader of Somerset Independents, Andrew Pope, said:

"Councillors from the Liberal Democrats and more Independent councillors in other districts have been in touch to support our campaign. But still, nothing from Labour, the Greens or Conservatives.

Why don't Somerset’s Labour, Green and Conservative councillors trust the residents to decide how they are governed? Are they only interested in what happens in Westminster? Since yesterday, we now know that even some Conservative councillors DO NOT SUPPORT the proposal, because one has broken ranks and written to us in support of a Referendum. We are sure that there are other Conservatives who are not yet brave enough to speak.

Because of the vast majority of County Councillors' abject surrender yesterday, Somerset Independents is now considering whether to stand candidates against these councillors at the next elections, if they do not support a Referendum."

Deputy Leader of Somerset Independents, Denise Wyatt, said:

“Residents voted by 82% against a Unitary Authority in 2007*. Yet County Council Leader Fothergill is disgracefully trying to railroad this through, proposing only a sham ‘consultation’ instead of a Referendum. Somerset Independents stands up for what Somerset residents want and now we think the next elections should be about that Referendum.”

* BBC, “County votes against one council

19 Jun 07 14:38

Most people in Somerset are against having a unitary authority, a poll has shown.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/mobile/england/somerset/6766837.stm, Retrieved 30th July 2020