ON the doorstep at last year’s local elections, residents told us they felt neglected and ignored by the Conservative run councils. It was time for change. People wanted transparency in local government, accountable leadership, and they wanted to be heard.

Following the results of those elections, we formed the Unity Alliance with other parties across the conurbation who had the same principles as us – transparency and openness, listening and collaboration, equality and fairness, deliberation and consensus all of which give us strength and unity to represent and serve communities across our three towns.

We are very disappointed that, in the midst of a global pandemic, Cllr Mellor and the Conservatives are forcing a vote of no confidence whilst we are working hard to keep our most vulnerable residents and the wider community safe.

The messages of support we have received from residents across the three towns has been overwhelming.

People understand that this is an opportunistic move by the Conservatives to seize power following the tragic death of a Unity Alliance member.

Rather than waiting for the by-election which will ultimately decide control of the council, they have opted to cause disruption at a time when we should all be pulling together for the good of our communities.

As Liberal Democrats, we are proud to be a part of the Unity Alliance and all that has been achieved in the last year and we fully intend to continue that great work through our exceptional leader and the wider Unity Alliance membership who champion the needs of residents and not the petty politics that we are seeing from the Conservative opposition.

BCP Liberal Democrat Group

Cllr Marcus Andrews

Cllr Mike Brooke

Cllr David Brown

Cllr Richard Burton

Cllr Mike Cox

Cllr Millie Earl

Cllr Toby Johnson

Cllr Marion Le Poidevin

Cllr Rachel Maidment

Cllr Chris Matthews

Cllr Sandra Moore

Cllr Pete Parrish

Cllr Mark Robson

Cllr Vikki Slade

Cllr Tony Trent