Ashtead Independents Rescue Tory Administration

Mole Valley residents face a further year of Conservative policies following a rescue by the Ashtead Independent Group at the Annual meeting of Mole Valley Council last night. At the elections earlier this month the Conservative administration lost its overall majority as a consequence of a swing to the Liberal Democrats. For the first time in a number of years the Liberal Democrats polled the largest number of votes across Mole Valley indicating that the electorate were looking for a significant change in policies and direction.

Instead, they have been presented with a Conservative administration supported by the minority Ashtead Independent Group who agreed to back the Conservatives in exchange for 3 seats in the newly established Cabinet.

After the meeting Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Stephen Cooksey said

'This new arrangement is a repeat of the Tory / Independent Coalition that controlled Mole Valley Council from 2013 to 2015 when the Conservatives gained an overall majority again and threw the Independents out. This is not what the residents of Mole Valley voted for in the recent election when there was a clear message that they had had enough of Conservative complacency and inefficiency and were looking for a very different approach to the way in which the Council is run.

For Liberal Democrats it will be another year in opposition but we will take every opportunity of holding the Cabinet to account for its collective decisions, making the voice of residents heard, particularly in the forthcoming discussions on the Local Plan and promoting the progressive policies on which we fought the election.

Next year's elections will provide a real opportunity for change and we will do everything that we can to bring that about.'