A year of progress amid ongoing challenges
As we approach 2023, I wanted to say a few words about how things have gone during 2022.
I got married this year, so it goes without saying that for me, personally, 2022 was a great year but, politically, it is not a year upon which I shall look back with entirely undiluted pleasure. Apart from the sad death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - the finest Head of State any nation has ever been blessed to have - each year for the past few years it has felt like colleagues in Westminster have taken collective leave of their senses and 2022 was no exception. Every year I think British politics has got as weird as it can possibly get but still, somehow, things manage to get yet weirder still. Surely, however, 2022 - the year in which we rattled through not one or two but THREE Prime Ministers - has got to be British politics at peak-bonkers.
Westminster woes
The year started with Boris Johnson under siege after being 'ambushed by cake', in what was inevitably dubbed 'Partygate'. This was followed by a relentless torrent of misjudgements and scandals, about which I have blogged myself, leading inexorably to mass-resignations from his government - unseen since the collapse of Ramsay MacDonald's National Government in 1932 - and, ultimately, his own resignation in July. For me and for my party, this was a tragedy. To watch the most charismatic politician in a generation and a man of undoubted skill and ability, throw away an historic 80-seat majority in a blaze of nonsense after a series of eminently avoidable pratfalls has been heartbreaking. This was followed by a Conservative leadership election, which was won by Elizabeth Truss, whose premiership was ultimately outlasted by a lettuce. Although much disingenuous cant has been written about her economic policies by her political opponents, she was, in my view, ultimately a victim of that amorphous Blob; the talking heads on social media and the press, who set the 24-hour news cycle from which none can escape. Since her resignation, after only 7 weeks in power (the shortest in British history), the country has been led by Rishi Sunak.
We now have, incidentally, more former P.M.s than we have ever had in our nation's history. I thought of this watching Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph, when Mr. Sunak was flanked by no less than SEVEN predecessors. Being the appalling nerd you all know me to be, I did of course do my research. There have been two occasions in history since the office of Prime Minister was established when we have had no former P.M.s - firstly between the death of the Earl of Orford (better known to history as Robert Walpole), our first and then only former P.M. in 1745 and the resignation of the Duke of Newcastle in 1756 (the first of Lord Orford's immediate successors to outlive him) and, secondly, between the death of the Earl of Beaconsfield (formerly Benjamin Disraeli) in 1881 and the final resignation of William Gladstone in 1885. This was due to the fact that, for the preceding 17 years, the premiership had alternated between the Tories led by Lord Beaconsfield and the Liberals led by Mr. Gladstone. Never before, however, have we had more than five former P.M.s alive at any one time.
I am not by any means an unalloyed enthusiast for Mr. Sunak but I do admire him and by and large rate him as a politician. His ascent through the Party's ranks since his election to Parliament in 2015 can only be described as 'meteoric' and that is a testament to his undoubted intelligence and skill. But a year is a long time in politics and the 'Rishimania' of 2020, when he was lauded for the furlough scheme and 'Eat Out to Help Out', which, along with his boyish looks, led to him receiving the sobriquet "Dishy Rishi", all seems like a very long time ago now. Certainly, we can at least breathe a sigh of relief that 2022 is ending rather less rambunctiously than it began and Westminster seems to be enjoying a relative period of calm and stability, thanks to the new P.M.'s commendable dullness. The Government is grappling with strikes, inflation and the ongoing war in Ukraine but it does, at least, feel like the grown-ups are finally in charge and there is some cause to hope that 2023 will be more serious, if no less challenging.
Nonetheless, I am - and have always been - a hopeless optimist. I still believe the Conservative Party can turn things around, get back on track and start to deliver on the priorities of the British people. They have to! Because one thing has been, and remains, abundantly clear and that is that this country cannot afford a Labour government led by Sir Keir Starmer, acting on behalf of his militant trade union paymasters. I still believe that it is only the Conservatives that will produce the policies this country needs to tackle the cost of living, keep our streets safe, secure our borders, reform health and social care, boost trade and improve our education system. I see no policies coming from the other parties to address these things.
Closer to home
Locally, of course, we are always mere spectators to the antics in Westminster and local Conservative councillors have been quietly and diligently plodding along. Having regained power in May 2021, the Conservative Administration passed the 2022/3 Budget in February, in which we froze our portion of the Council Tax (one of only two district councils in Essex to be able to do so). We also invested significant resources in the creation of a new team of Community Safety Wardens. From my perspective, however, as the Chairman of the Housing and Estate Renewal Committee, the flagship policy has been the £40m Safe & Sound Programme, probably the most ambitious programme of estate improvement ever attempted in Basildon. We also announced significant investment in our local parks and play areas, including Lake Meadows in Billericay - and I have taken a close personal interest in working with Council officers and local residents to ensure that the new play equipment at Lake Meadows is as inclusive as possible. We also had new hard-standing paths put into Mill Meadows Nature Reserve between the pedestrian access points on Langemore Way, Chaffinch Crescent and Southend Road, to make the meadows more accessible.
We also restored the long-delayed investment in Billericay High Street that was repeatedly cancelled by the previous Labour-led administration. All told, there was about £350,000 of additional investment in Billericay and we froze the car parking charges in the Council-owned car parks behind Iceland and at Radford Way in order to help our local retailers.
In addition to the investment in the new Community Safety Wardens, the Council also passed a borough-wide Public Spaces Protection Order covering town centres, parks and open spaces. This came into effect in April and allows the Council's enforcement officers and local police to, for example, confiscate alcohol from street drinkers and issue a range of fines against those engaging in anti-social behaviour.
Local Plan withdrawn
Perhaps most significantly, Basildon Conservatives took the controversial decision in February to pull the Local Plan. This was a decision not without risks, as a Local Plan is a legal requirement and there was a serious concern that the lack of a properly adopted plan would leave us open to speculative development. Nonetheless, the decision was taken to withdraw the draft plan after careful consideration. There had been a number of modifications since the last proper public consultation, as well as updates to the evidence base, with large increases in the overall housing numbers, mostly in the Green Belt. There had long been unease on the Conservative benches, not least around the terrible changes introduced by the Labour/UKIP alliance that ran the Council in 2017/18. The Submission Local Plan had become a horrible chimera and Basildon Conservatives were satisfied, on the basis of legal advice, that we were entitled to withdraw it and, having consistently challenged the numbers and resisted pressure to sacrifice Green Belt and with increasingly reassuring mood music coming from Central Government, were simply not content for the plan to proceed in its current form.
The plan was withdrawn in the teeth of fierce opposition from Labour and the so-called 'Independents', who all voted against withdrawing the plan. Basildon Conservatives will now work up a new plan, more closely aligned with our values, protecting the Green Belt for current and future generations. Residents should not underestimate the potential consequences, however, should Labour and their stooges return to power. The old plan will be dusted off and resubmitted in fairly short order.
Election success
Not withstanding the dismal national picture, May saw a brilliant set of local elections for the Conservatives, including the re-election of yours truly in Billericay East. Despite defending 10 of the 14 seats up for grabs, Basildon Conservatives retained all our seats and even managed to unseat the Labour Group Leader. We kept control of the Council with a working majority of 8. This was my third re-election battle in Billericay East since being elected in the by-election in 2013 and, as someone who grew up in Billericay and whose family have lived here for six generations, it has been an enormous privilege to represent this community for the past 9 years. I was elated to be re-elected with a majority of 1,458 (67% of the vote) - the largest Conservative majority of the night. I never take my voters in Billericay East for granted and I am gratified and humbled by their continued faith in me. I look forward to celebrating my 'Tin Jubilee' next year!
I shall be fighting my fourth re-election battle early, in 2024, following the implementation of new ward boundaries, requiring an all-in-all-out election to reconstitute the Council. At present, according to the latest draft proposals from the Local Government Boundary Commission and endorsed by Basildon Council at a meeting in December, the ward boundaries in Billericay will be remaining the same and it is presently my intention to seek my party's nomination for one of the three Billericay East seats in 2024.Appointed to Cabinet
Following our local election victory, Basildon Council formally restored the Cabinet system and I was named as the Cabinet Member for Housing & Estate Renewal, retaining the portfolio I had held for the previous year under the Committee system but now with executive powers rather than having to pass policies through a committee. The housing portfolio has been the most, by turns, daunting and rewarding challenge of my political career to date and my casework has probably quadrupled.
I have continued to preside over our ambitious house-build programme and am proud to have delivered 125 new high quality homes for social rent, including the 94 new homes I viewed at Acorn House in March. I have added an additional 200 homes to the programme over the next 2 years and Sempra Homes, the Council's wholly-owned company, has also delivered 43 new homes in Billericay, Basildon and Wickford and has a programme of 255 new homes currently in the works; part of an overall pipeline of 1,100 new homes. All these new homes are designed to be generally accessible to people with mobility disabilities and some are specifically designed to be suitable for wheelchair users.
One of my main focuses this year has been homelessness. Having successfully bid for a £415,000 grant from Homes England, I am extremely proud of Nevendon Place in Pitsea. This converted a rather smart disused 1920s building to deliver nearly 20 new homes. Formerly known as the 'iTec Centre', it had in a previous life been the Nevendon County Primary School. The building still had two entrances at either end, one with 'Boys' written above it and the other with 'Girls and Infants', which we have retained. When we removed the iTec sign from the front, we also uncovered the Essex three seaxes emblem with the year '1926' and we have tidied that up. I got to choose the new name and I chose to call it Nevendon Place as a nod to the old school. This brilliant new facility will be used as temporary housing for former rough sleepers, working in partnership with Peabody and the Salvation Army. I was pleased to attend the formal ribbon-cutting in October and even more proud when the scheme won an award at the Essex Housing Awards in November. By far and away the best thing I have done in politics so far.
Some personal news
In early June, I married the love of my life, Rosie, in a small
ceremony in Tuscany surrounded by family and close friends. My especial
thanks to Cllr. James Halden, current Mayor of Thurrock, for being my
Best Man. My wife and I remain tremendously grateful for all the many
kind messages I received from constituents on the occasion of our
wedding, as well as from council officers and other councillors. It was
most touching and, having just spent our first Christmas together as a
married couple, I can confirm that we are, along with my stepdaughter
Poppy, a very happily little family indeed. My in-laws also live in
Billericay, so my already strong familial ties to the town have been
further strengthened and enriched. My father, who turns 70 next week,
celebrated 50 years of operating as a small independent local car
mechanic this year. I am also looking forward to becoming an uncle next
year, as my youngest brother (my 'baby' brother) and his partner are
expecting their first child together in April (my parents' first
grandchild). So professional satisfaction has been matched with much
personal happiness.
God save the King!
My June wedding coincided with the celebrations of the unprecedented Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - marking Her 70 years on the throne. Her Majesty had turned 96 in April and Her incredible milestone jubilee was celebrated across the Borough and up and down the length and breadth of the country, as well as around the world. Trees were planted in Her honour as part of the Queen's Green Canopy campaign, including a circle of beautiful cherry trees at South Green. Beacons were lit, including that on the Queen Elizabeth II Playing Field at Sun Corner. 'Big Jubilee Lunches' were enjoyed across the borough. I was extremely proud to have chaired the Jubilee Working Group and a source of particular pride was the delivery of the Platinum Jubilee Sculpture that was unveiled by the Lord-Lieutenant of Essex and the Mayor of Basildon on the side of the Basildon Centre. This was something I had suggested as a vague idea at the first meeting of the working group and it was very cool to see it progress and ultimately to watch it being designed and constructed by local artist Aden Hynes. I missed the actual unveiling, as it clashed with my wedding day! But it is still lovely to see it now in place and I feel proud whenever I walk past it. I hope it will serve as an enduring memorial to Her Majesty's astonishing reign.
Sadly, that reign came to an inevitable end in September when the Queen passed away peacefully, just days after swearing in Her fifteenth and final prime minister. I am so glad that She lived to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee and experience that outpouring of love and affection from all the people, both here and around the globe. It was a 12-hour test of my endurance, but it was also an awesome honour to file past the late Queen's coffin during Her lying-in-state at Westminster Hall. She has since been laid to rest beside Her late husband at Windsor following a spectacular State Funeral and has been succeeded by Her son, His Majesty King Charles III. It is difficult to conceive of a more qualified Head of State, given that King Charles has essentially served a 7-decade apprenticeship. I was present in St. Martin's Square for the official Proclamation by His Worship the Mayor of Basildon and we all now look forward to the King's Coronation in May 2023.
Although, at 74 years of age, His Majesty the King is the oldest
person ever to accede to the British throne, and He is now a figure
well-known and familiar to all of us, I anticipate that this will be a
very different coronation to the one in 1953 - a new coronation for a
new monarch in a new age. I was extremely gratified, at the recent
meeting of Full Council in December, to have been named as chair of the
forthcoming Coronation Working Group and look forward to making
preparations for Basildon Borough to celebrate the first coronation in
70 years. As I said in my speech, it will be an event of "era-defining importance".
In 1953, as we emerged from the ravages of the Second World War, the
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was the uplifting shot-in-the arm we
all needed. As we emerge from the lasting effects of the pandemic and
the ongoing war in Ukraine, I hope that the Coronation of King Charles
III will give us all cause to celebrate.
