Respect MP George Galloway has revealed that his Party will be putting up ten candidates for next year’s local elections in Bradford.
One of the most interesting developments in the next elections was always going to be how Galloway and Respect would react after the five Bradford councillors left the party.
Galloway, MP for Bradford West, also stated that the Respect Party has targeted ten “winnable seats” in the 2014 election and they expect this to give them the “balance of power” in the city.
The local MP spoke to us regarding our current front page story, which looks at next year’s local elections.
Throughout the year, we have been telling you what councillors have been up to in your wards.
Many of you told us how you felt and what you would like to see happen. The doors will be opening again for you, the public, for the chance to chose who you want as your next councillor.
With the local elections in May 2014, our local political parties have already started their street campaigns and community work to garner those key votes.
As we rejoice over the news of Westfield about to start and renew our hopes of a better Bradford, we still can’t deny the fact that it’s been a long upward struggle for Bradford in the past few years, with our political leaders battling with each other.
With recent revelations regarding former councillor Reverend Paul Flowers, residents of Bradford are becoming increasingly critical of its local politicians.
Speaking to us about Paul Flowers affect on the next campaign, Galloway said: “I don’t think the Flowers affect will be noticeable in the next election. The only thing this will do is make people even less likely to vote. I would not be surprised if the voting is lower than last time and this will have contributed to that.”
With many upset over the Government’s cut to funding, it will also be interesting to see how well Conservative candidates face up to an already Labour dominated Council.
David Ward, Bradford West MP, said: “As a strong believer in local government, I very much hope it will be decided on local issues and they choose a person who will represent the Ward well. Being a year away from the general elections makes me feel people could be thinking about national issues when going to vote, such as the state of the economy.
“I think the Paul Flowers allegations will have an effect. Not because of what he has done as every party have had people who sometimes do what they shouldn’t. These people are human after all. I just think there maybe be backlash against the labour group, as it seems as though they attempted to it cover to protect the group. I believe when these sort of things occur, the party should be open and transparent.”
A Keighley Town councillor has sparked the most recent debate after her suggestion of reducing the number of councillors received strong support at a consultation meeting in Keighley.
Judith Brooksbank, who is the Deputy Mayor of Keighley, is one of many people who believe cutting the number of Councillors from 90 to 60 would save the Council nearly £400,000 a year.
The plan would see one Council seat removed from each of the 30 wards. However, there are concerns over the increase in workload for the two remaining councillors.
A decrease in the number of councillors may have come too soon with an election on the horizon, but this suggestion is sure to be a talking point in the future due to the cuts to Council budgets.
What are your thoughts? Which are the most important seats in 2014? Who’s position in under threat? Email your thoughts and comments to newsdesk@asiansunday.co.uk or talk to us on social media @AsianSundayNews on Twitter and Facebook/AsianSundayNewspaper.
