Stevenage: May 2024 local elections party statements

The below statements are pledges, policies and ideas of the various parties running in the Stevenage Borough Council local elections for 2024.

Here's what they had to say.

Conservatives

"Voting Conservative at these local elections is a vote for change - because it’s the same old story when it comes to Labour-run Stevenage these past 50 years.

"Poor maintenance of trees, fly-tipping by garage blocks, derelict children’s playgrounds, disintegrating street name signs - sadly the list goes on.

"Stevenage Conservative councillors have a proven track record of getting things done - they are quality councillors embedded in their communities.

"They scrutinise Stevenage Labour's schemes, properly hold them to account and champion causes within the chamber that actually matter to you the residents - like renovating our town’s playgrounds rather than converting council vans to run on chip fat!

"Conservative councillors will say no to tall flat blocks and yes to more family homes with gardens.

"They will campaign for one-hour free parking in Town Centre car parks. They will make tackling fly-tipping and street cleaning a top priority. They will work with the police to keep our streets safe, drive a new strategy focused on improving and upgrading our neighbourhood shops, and will fight back against Stevenage Labour’s war on motorists, where at every turn they seem to want to make driving and parking more difficult. 

"The socialists have taken our great town for granted for too long. Conservatives will stand up to Labour on the borough council. We are truly local and always on your side."

Greens

"For the first time, the Green Party has a candidate in every ward in Stevenage.

"As a party we want to get the things done that help people in their everyday lives. We need to make sure that footpaths and cyclepaths are maintained properly across the town to help those who are unable to use a car, and to give a choice to those who are.

"We need to make it easier for residents to report issues to the council and then ensure that help is given to get things resolved no matter whose responsibility it is. We need to put an end to the political infighting that goes on between the two biggest parties and work together to make Stevenage better.

"This year, we all have three votes to use, so many people are lending votes to us to send a message that people are tired of the complacent main parties who would rather bicker between themselves than work for our borough.

"We need a council that listens to people and starts delivering on the basics. In Longmeadow ward, it is a race between the Green Party or the Conservatives and we hope to see our first councillor elected."

Labour

"Stevenage Labour Party is proud to be standing 39 local, hard-working candidates who are on the side of our residents and ready to provide strong representation for every area, all year round if given the privilege to serve the people of our town.

"We are the only party in Stevenage that has stood a full slate of 39 candidates, with the Conservatives shamefully only standing 21 candidates out of a possible 39 to focus on areas which they say they are ‘most likely to win’.

"We stand for every resident in every area of the town, no matter how they vote or who they support.

"We are also the only party in Stevenage with a fully costed manifesto of plans and policies for the future of our town. We achieved 117 of the 120 of our previous manifesto pledges. Our latest manifesto was relaunched in March - crafted by residents and rooted in their priorities and ambitions. You can read our plan to build a safer, stronger Stevenage at: https://www.stevenagelabour.org/manifesto-2024/

"Our core 5 pledges focus on:

"Creating jobs through regenerating the town centre with a science, innovation & tech centre, new small businesses and a new school;

"Involving residents in shaping a new sports and leisure centre, with affordable state of the art health and wellbeing facilities for all;

"Continuing to build sustainable council homes to get local families off waiting lists and into housing designed with residents;

"Investing more in keeping neighbourhoods clean, tackling graffiti with a new reporting system and cracking down on fly-tipping with fines;

"And delivering on our climate-change priorities, imposing no charges for green waste, continuing improving local parks and planting thousands of trees.

"On Thursday 2nd May, please use all 3 of your votes for Labour in the Stevenage Borough Council elections."

Liberal Democrats

"These elections are about who is the best person to represent you on Stevenage Borough Council, and to decide how to spend the local councillors’ budgets. It is not about national issues.

"Stevenage council has been dominated by Labour since the 1950s – but since 1982 the Lib Dems have provided a strong, active, constructive and badly needed opposition group.

"Ward boundary changes mean that all 39 seats are up for election.

"Liberal Democrats will extend our community based care for our residents’ safety and well-being, from our held wards of Chells and Manor to other areas. For example from our local budgets we have funded:

• 16 emergency defibrillators

• 9 Speed Indicator Devices

• extra street lights

• magnificent daffodil displays

• new play equipment

• the re-surfacing of some uneven footways

• additional public benches, litter and salt bins

"We always remember that Stevenage Council spends your money.

"In particular we will:

• Speed up and improve repairs for tenants, reduce the time properties stand empty and prioritise energy efficiency measures;
• End the sell off of our green spaces;
• Ensure a proper response to the climate change emergency;
• Improve parking enforcement to discourage careless and poor parking;
• Liaise better with Hertfordshire County Council to avoid disasters like the Lytton Way traffic mess;

• Consult more widely on planning applications and improve responses to planning enforcement breaches;

• Improve the SBC website and publications to stop embarrassing errors;

• Stop Labour marking their own homework! The important Scrutiny meetings should be chaired by the opposition."

Reform UK

"In this year's local elections, Reform UK are fielding several candidates to represent you on Stevenage Borough Council.

"We believe in ensuring every pound of council tax payers money, your money, is spent to best effect.

"We will provide a voice of opposition to unnecessary wasteful spending. Like many other local authorities, the borough is facing tough times.

"The February budget outlines how the council intends to continue to run "most of its services", despite a £3.7 million reduction in government funding and £7.4 million in unfunded inflation since 2010/11.

"The council states it needs to save over £1million each year, due to the gap between cost pressures and increases in funding.

"We will offer a voice of opposition to unnecessary wasteful spending, and vanity projects. It is important that the services that the council provide are protected. They must take precedence over such matters as, for example, the council's Climate Action Plan.

"We will support sensible policy, and will seek only to do what's best for the residents and hard pressed council tax payers of Stevenage. If you vote for Reform UK, you will be voting for a party that puts the good of the people it represents at the forefront of everything it does."

Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts

"We live in one of the richest countries in the world, yet millions struggle with the cost-of-living crisis. Energy companies and water companies have made record profits while some people find it difficult to heat their homes. On top of this workers are forced to endure endless austerity in the form of spending cuts, long NHS waiting lists and lack of social housing.

"The Tories have been in power since 2010 and they have reduced funding for local councils. However local councils including labour councils, should have refused to accept these spending constraints and instead implemented no-cuts budgets. Why should workers have to suffer?

"We say re-nationalise all the energy and water companies under democratic worker’s control. We need a fully funded NHS to reduce waiting lists and improve peoples quality of life. Furthermore a massive council house building programme is required and the Gaza war to end.

"We need a party that introduces socialist policies and fights for the interests of the working class. None of the other parties can provide that alternative to the Tory party and that includes Starmer’s Labour party. That is why TUSC is standing candidates as a step towards a new workers party."