As the dust settles from the results of this week’s local elections, some groups will be celebrating their victories, while others will be commiserating their losses. Eight parties and a number of independents were vying for your vote in the local elections, with votes taking place for the county council, borough council and a number of parish councils, as well as neighbourhood referendums for planning. Here’s our roundup of the winners and losers on the local election night:
Winners
The Conservatives The Conservative Party, both nationally and in Test Valley, has done very well in 2021’s local elections. Having won the Hartlepool by-election to elect a new MP, local conservatives were confident going into the elections in Test Valley.
A debate over an allowance motion at Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) became particularly heated on Wednesday (April 7) as councillors argued over the motion. Cllr David Coole had proposed that the minority opposition group leader on the council, himself, should be paid a special responsibilities allowance (SRA). These allowances are given to support extra work undertaken by councillors with additional roles. He said that being paid the allowance was “a matter of complying with the constitution”. Other councillors, however, accused him of having a “total lack of respect” for TVBC and residents by asking for the payment. The motion proposed at a meeting of the full council on April 7 said that a SRA should be paid to the leader of the minority opposition group, and backdated to May 2019. Cllr Coole argued that by having three members, the Andover Independents Party is an opposition group on the council.
Test Valley Borough Councillors have approved plans to vote through a £2.50 council tax rise despite an attempt to reduce it to the rate of inflation. Councillors were asked to approve the decision of the Cabinet to see council tax rise this year, as well as a £1 fall in the Andover Special Expenses Levy. Liberal Democrat councillors introduced an amendment to limit the rise to the rate of inflation, 0.7 per cent, which would have seen an increase of £1.02. However, following debate, councillors voted broadly along party lines, with the Conservatives and Andover Independents Party voting against the amendment. The council tax rise was subsequently approved.
Political leaders have spoken to the Advertiser about their travel arrangements over the last few months as they urge members of the public to stay at home as much as possible during lockdown. Though restrictions came down following the end of the second national lockdown in December, and then have been tightened once again over the following month, politicians wanted to reassure the public that everyone is in it together. Under the current national lockdown, members of the public should not leave home unless they have a reasonable excuse, which include work, volunteering, essential activities and education. Councillors and MPs from across north Hampshire were contacted by the Advertiser to ask what they’d been up to over the past few months, and here’s what they had to say: