Saffron Walden Constituency Liberal Democrats

Stansted Liberal Democrats celebrated a decisive win on Thursday May 3rd, winning 12 out of a possible 15 seats on Stansted Parish Council. The election was fought a year later than usual due to a boundary change that brought Forest Hall Park, a new development of hundreds of houses, into the Stansted electoral area. This change was reflected by a redistribution of seats - 9 were up for grabs in the South ward, and 6 seats in the North ward (previously 8 and 7). Prior to these elections, the Lib Dems held 10 of the 15 seats

The Lib Dems welcomed several new faces into their team of candidates this time. As well as long-serving councillors Geoffrey Sell, Catherine Dean, Valerie Trundle, John Hudson, Jo Freeman and Tudor Owen, our candidates included John Savopoulos and Denise Oliver from Forest Hall Park, Fran Richards from Spencer Close, Maureen and Daniel Caton from West Road, Margaret Ambrose from Maitland Road, Samantha Dunn from High Lane, Nigel Collingwood from Loates Pasture and David Richardson from Cambridge Road.

The mix of backgrounds, ages, genders and skills showed just how strong the Lib Dem team of candidates were, and this was reflected in the result. Voters in South ward elected all nine Lib Dems by a significant margin over their Conservative rivals. In North, where the turnout was a whopping 43.69%, three Lib Dems and three Conservatives were elected, with the other three Tory candidates languishing at the bottom of the poll.

The one downside to the day for the Lib Dems was that they lost sitting Councillor Tudor Owen by just one vote! However, the overall result was very positive for the party, who even managed to unseat Jonathan Rich, a sitting Conservative Parish and District Councillor in Stansted North.

Parish Council Chairman Cllr. Geoffrey Sell said "I am overjoyed by the result in Stansted and want to thank each and every person who voted Lib Dem. I also want to pay tribute to our hard-working team of candidates and activists, who really pulled out all the stops to make this decisive victory possible. Whilst it is sad that we lost Tudor by a single vote, and didn't manage to get our candidates David Richardson and Dan Caton in, both of whom would have made excellent councillors, a gain of two seats is fantastic! Voters in Stansted clearly want a strong, local team of Lib Dems to represent them, and have given us a strong mandate to continue standing up for Stansted."

Stansted & District Branch Lib Dem Chairman Rory Gleeson added "We really took the fight to the Tories this time. In the North ward, where they are traditionally stronger (and we lost a seat to them on the district council last year), we polled more than half of the ballots and only missed out on a fourth councillor by one vote. I am also pleased to see the turnout so high in North - Stansted's voters have sent a clear message to Uttlesford's ruling Conservatives that they will no longer put up with being sold short - on parking charges, green waste services or housing money. With a county council election round the corner in 2013, we have the Tories on the run in Stansted."

You can keep up with our winning team in Stansted by following us on Twitter @StanstedLibDems or finding us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stanstedlibdems

The full results of the election can be found at http://www.uttlesford.gov.uk/main.cfm?Type=OTNS&Object=3755

Lib Dem candidates for Stansted Mountfitchet Parish Council have been setting out their stall for the election on Thursday May 3rd, with their manifesto pledges to oppose any large-scale development in Stansted while Forest Hall Park is still being built, keep Stansted's police officers in the village, provide the best local services: in Stansted, for Stansted, and fight for safer, better roads.

Current Parish Council Chairman Geoffrey Sell, who is standing in Stansted North, said 'I am proud to say that the Lib Dems have a strong record of action in Stansted. We have already delivered new and improved play equipment in the village and have managed to secure money to improve it further still. We are also in negotiations to build a 'one stop shop' for public services at Crafton Green, incorporating an expanded library, citizens' advice services and hopefully space to allow our local police officers to remain in the village, despite the closure of our police station.'

Candidate in Stansted South, Catherine Dean said 'We have a wide range of truly local candidates standing for election this time, many of whom have deep roots in Stansted. We want to represent everyone in the village, and our team are a mixture of ages, genders and backgrounds. Even a mix of areas in the village - from Bentfield to Forest Hall Park, the Mountfitchet Estate to Lower Street, Spencer Close and High Lane.'

'This is in stark contrast to the Tories, who haven't even bothered to put up a full slate of candidates in Stansted South. In fact, not all of their candidates live in Stansted!'

The Lib Dems have also highlighted the fact that local Tories have been selling Stansted short. John Savopoulos, who lives in Forest Hall Park and is standing in Stansted South said 'The next few years will be vital for Stansted. With over £1m provided by the developers of Forest Hall Park already and more to come, it is crucial that this money gets spent in a way that most benefits our village. The Conservatives have already given money intended for Stansted to Birchanger. We think this is wrong, and we want to see this money spent in Stansted, for Stansted.'

Stansted Lib Dems' full manifesto can be found at www.tinyurl.com/standingup4stansted

Candidates' biographies can be found at www.uttlesfordlibdems.org.uk/stanstednorth and www.uttlesfordlibdems.org.uk/stanstedsouth

You can follow us on Twitter - @StanstedLibDems - or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/StanstedLibDems

Uttlesford Council's Liberal Democrat opposition councillors have criticised the ruling Conservatives' failure to provide the glass recycling service they promised twelve months ago.

Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Cllr. Elizabeth Parr said "I am concerned at the Conservatives' lack of communication with the residents of Uttlesford about the new recycling service they promised at the elections last May."

"The budget votes confirm the resolve of the Lib Dems to give tax cuts to millions and to make sure that the burden of paying more is taken by those with the highest incomes.

"The budget votes also show that Labour are all over the place on financial policy and that their votes and actions do not match their words.

"After five days of huff and puff from Ed Balls, and sustained protest about the proposal to lower the highest level of tax rate next year, Labour MPs were not in the chamber to vote against the change. This says all the public need to know about Labour's position.

"A last minute increase in the higher tax rate before the last election and no real commitment to continue the 50p tax rate while they are in opposition shows how they value rhetoric more than action."

Over 20 million working people will be better off next year after Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government delivered the biggest ever increase in the income tax personal allowance in the Budget.

The massive £3.5bn tax cut for working people delivers:

• The biggest ever single uplift in the tax threshold
• A personal allowance of £9,205 in April 2013
• 21 million working people getting an extra £220 tax cut
• Brings the total tax cut for basic rate tax payers to £550
• Brings the total number of people lifted out of tax to 2 million.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg used his speech to the Party's Spring conference in NewcastleGateshead to call for the forthcoming budget to be a "budget for fairness" and pledged that it would help working familes.

The Deputy Prime Minister pledged that by 2015 Britain would have seen an end to control orders, the first gay marriages and the first elections to the House of Lords.

Fairer taxes, promoting green jobs, protecting your civil liberties - these are just some of the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in government.

We're building a freer, greener and more liberal country - and stopping some of the worst excesses of the Conservatives. Find out more in this infographic.

Conservative-led Uttlesford District Council has turned down a bid by opposition Liberal Democrat councillors to freeze car parking charges in the district.

At last Thursday's full Council meeting, where the budget for the next financial year was approved, Lib Dem leader Councillor Peter Wilcock asked if £114,000 of the £1.25 million given for building new homes in the district could be used to freeze the parking charges for this year.

After the meeting, he said "The Conservatives are putting more than a third of the New Homes bonus money into the council's reserves for a 'rainy day' rather than spending it on improving services for the district's residents. They are squeezing taxpayers for even more money by increasing car parking charges across the district."

Cllr Wilcock concluded "The Lib Dems believe that a freeze in car parking charges would help local businesses. Thanks to Uttlesford's Conservatives we will now all be feeling the pinch when we park."