Looking for your vote - Warwickshire prepares for May local elections
Residents all over the county will head for the polls on 1st May, when there is a chance to vote in the Warwickshire County Council elections. All 57 seats will be up for grabs. The council is currently run by the Conservatives, who’ve had a majority since 2017. These elections come with an extra twist as Warwickshire, as well as other two-tier areas where there’s district and county councils, faces sweeping changes in readiness for moves towards some form of unitary authority. GILL OLIVER has speaking to the parties.
Warwickshire Conservatives
THE Conservatives dominate the county council in Warwickshire, including in the Stratford area where they hold 11 of the 13 seats and divisions.
Councillor Isobel Seccombe, Leader of Warwickshire County Council, says the party is happy to stand on its record.
She sees her party’s main achievements as protecting financial stability and she highlighted the council’s extra care housing programme, which she says has saved millions of pounds in adult social care spending.
She also cited better education outcomes under the Tories and says they have attracted more businesses, jobs and investment to the county.
She told the Herald: “We’ve managed to go through what's been quite a difficult financial period for local government and Warwickshire has come out of that - not that we don't have difficulties - but we are as stable as many.”
County Councillor Tim Sinclair, (Con, Stratford North), said sorting out the problems of Birmingham Road is one of his party’s main achievements in Stratford, and highlighted the need to resolve traffic flow around the gyratory and over Clopton Bridge.
He also pointed to his efforts to boost take-up of the park and ride bus service.
Speaking of the recent work on Warwick Road, Cllr Sinclair said: “There have been dozens of accidents on that road - fatalities as well as serious collisions - so if investment has made that road safer with fewer accidents and fewer fatalities, that’s a good thing.”
As for the proposed move to a unitary authority, Cllr Sinclair said: “If done right, it should mean a greater economy of scale, greater levels of efficiency and collaboration between the different functions of local government, and a simpler service and system for our residents to understand.”
Warwickshire Lib Dems
THE Lib Dems are highly critical of the county’s “poor infrastructure” which they say is due to Conservative “neglect”.
Councillor George Cowcher, who’s chairman of the Stratford Liberal Democrats' election campaign committee, said: “Conservatives have been keen to let developers erect huge amounts of housing and we have overflowing schools, sewage running in some streets, fewer hospital beds than we had 20 years ago and a chronic dental crisis.”
Cllr Cowcher, who’s Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems on Stratford District Council, claims Stratford is “neglected and taken for granted by the County Council which seems to focus attention on other areas of the county”.
Citing the “huge challenges of social care and SEND”, he said the County has “failed to invest in council capacity and relied far too heavily on private sector provision which is extremely expensive”.
He also warned that Warwickshire could become “the only rural county covered by the West Midlands Combined Authority…which will mean we get little benefit yet have to take even more housing and development”.
He added: “We have shown competence and flair in running Stratford District for two years.
“We have given greater emphasis to the green agenda and sustainability.
“We will stand up for our area and we want to influence the county going forward, as we have done in the past when the council has been hung.”
Warwickshire Labour
KEY issues Labour is focusing on for this campaign are school places, particularly for children with special educational needs, traffic and roads and bus provision.
Social care and health are other areas Labour is keen to highlight.
Councillor Sarah Feeney, leader of the Labour group in Warwickshire County Council said: “A lot of people feel left behind.
“People are waiting too long for GP appointments and hospital treatment.
“Some areas of the county face really patchy access to dentistry – there’s a lot of work to do to fix the basics.”
She claimed Labour being in national government could benefit Warwickshire.
“We have the links into government,” she pointed out.
“We've got a plan to fix issues and after 20 years of Conservative administration, there are lot new ideas to bring to the table.”
Cllr Feeney described plans for a unitary authority as “really exciting”.
She said: “In its purest sense, it's about shifting power out of Westminster into our local communities
“It's about more efficient, clearer structures, less managers and less politicians, which hopefully will mean more money for those frontline services we're really keen to deliver.”
She added: “A lot of residents feel very disengaged from the county council and feel like they don't get answers or are ignored.
“One of the things we want to do through local government reform and hopefully taking power, is show people the county council does listen to them, and it's very keen to address their needs concerns, even down to a street-by-street level.”
Warwickshire Greens
THE Green Party will be standing across Warwickshire and says it is looking to build on its current three seats.
Green Party Shipston candidate Julie Hudson said: “So many people are turning away from Labour and the Conservatives and looking at the Greens.
“We’ve consistently proved that Green councillors work hard, stand up for our area and challenge the council.”
Ms Hudson claimed at County Council level during the past six months the Greens have stopped the Conservatives cutting £95,000 to youth clubs, which she says would have meant up to 20 weekly clubs closing.
She also said the party has “successfully” argued against shorter library opening hours and campaigned to show that preventative services for children, families and vulnerable people support people as well as saving money.
Ms Hudson added: “To cut these is a false economy and we would work on strengthening these support services.”
She also pointed to work by the Greens to “reveal [the] massive over-budget and badly managed road scheme on the A46, that we’ve always said had dubious economic benefit”.
Instead, she said the Greens would focus on providing safe walking and cycling routes to school, work and leisure.
She added: “Democracy and transparency are important, and we say it how it is, but are also committed to disagreeing well and creating a positive open culture.”
Warwickshire Reform UK
REFORM UK will be fielding a candidate in all 57 seats in the upcoming elections.
The right-wing, populist political party and limited company, led by Nigel Farage, believes it can capitalise on local anger at the volume of proposed housing development.
James Crocker, the Reform UK candidate for Bidford and Welford, said: “One of the issues we really want to push back on is the level of new house building, the ill-thought-through infrastructure that isn't in place, and the general acceptance that is a fait accompli that we're going to have to build all of these new houses.
“If you live in Bearley, for example, your little village of a few hundred people is going to be a town in a few years’ time and if somebody had fought back on that some time ago, we wouldn't be in the position we seem to be now.
“The one thing we want to do across the region is push back on some of these plans to build, build, build.”
He added: “Over-development seems to be one of the big issues on the doorstep that people are deeply unhappy about, and we've been sleep-walking into this situation.
“We would argue the incumbents have put us in this position.”
Mr Crocker, who is also the chairman of Reform UK for the Stratford region, said he believes the party can win seats in this county, although he did not say which ones.
Councillor Tim Sinclair (Con, Stratford North) said: “There are very small pockets of people in Stratford town who say they’re voting Reform UK, but I'm seeing very, very little of it.
“There will be some who vote for them, but I'm honestly not picking up on the doorstep a groundswell of appetite.”
Cllr George Cowcher, chairman of the Stratford Liberal Democrats' election campaign committee, said of Reform: “They have shown no interest in local affairs, have no positive ideas and appear to have no real presence here.”
And Cllr Sarah Feeney, leader of the Labour group in Warwickshire County Council, said: “I don't think they've [Reform UK] got the answers locally to the problems residents face.
“They stand on a very nationalised ticket.”
Another factor that could influence local voting is in-fighting at the very top of Reform UK, following a public spat between Nigel Farage and former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, which could alienate voters.
Voting facts
The county council is responsible for highways and roads, education including special needs (SEND), social care, fire services, public health, libraries, waste disposal and recycling sites.
The upcoming Warwickshire County Council elections are on Thursday 1st May.
All 57 divisions to the Council will be elected, returning one councillor for each division for a four-year term.
How can I vote?
You must be registered to vote - if you’re not, see: www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
Deadline to register to vote is midnight on Friday 11 April 2025.
Voting takes place at polling stations all over the county from 7am to 10pm.
To vote you need a valid form of photo ID such as a passport, driving licence, older person’s bus pass, or blue badge.
You can apply for a voter authority certificate –online via GOV.UK website or at your local district or borough council electoral registration office.
Deadline to apply for a voter authority certificate is 5pm on Wednesday 23 April 2025.
You can also apply to vote by post or by proxy. For more information, see: www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voting-and-elections
