Local Council Elections 2022: Who will you vote for this May?

Local elections in the United Kingdom are due to be held on 5 May 2022.

Thirty-three of the thirty-six Metropolitan Boroughs elect a third of their councillors every year for three years, with no election in each fourth year. Wirral Council is one of these Metropolitan Boroughs that elect their councillors in thirds. However, Wirral will move to whole council elections from May 2023.

The move to whole council elections will mean that from 2023 the council elections will be held once every four years, rather than currently being held in three out of every four years. The change comes after councillors passed a resolution to change to whole council elections.

birkenhead.news contacted the four main parties – Conservative, Green Party, Labour and the Liberal Democrats – and asked them to provide a 200-word Wirral-wide manifesto. Below, in alphabetical order by party name, are each of the party’s responses.

The main image shows the local party leaders in random order – Top left: Janette Williamson, Labour, Top right: Tom Anderson, Conservative, Bottom left: Pat Cleary, Green Party, Bottom Right: Phil Gilchrist, Liberal Democrats.


Conservatives

Cllr. Tom Anderson. Leader of the Conservative Group.

The Labour-led Council’s finances have been a mess for over a decade. Two independent reports laid bare the irresponsible financial decisions taken by Labour councillors. £7 million spent on the Vue cinema. Funding vanity projects, including the failed Hoylake Golf resort to build on Green Belt. Then paying £500,000 to the developer to get out of their contract which Conservative Councillors, local campaigners and residents told them was folly. The latest scheme, creating a local authority run bank, costing Taxpayers £5 million, has now died a death.

Local Conservatives will protect our Green Belt. This is why we proposed the Local Plan at a recent Council Committee meeting which has only brownfield sites listed for development.

These elections will decide what type of Wirral we want. Local Conservatives’ priority is to have a clean, green and pleasant environment for our residents to enjoy. We will use the £100 million given from Government to level up Wirral, creating highly skilled jobs, attracting new businesses so our children don’t have to find employment elsewhere. We will protect local services which all our residents rely upon, such as maintaining our roads and pavements, keeping our streets clean and free from litter, cutting the grass across the Borough and protecting our most vulnerable residents.

Find out more at https://www.wirralconservatives.org.uk/


Green Party

Cllr. Pat Cleary (right, in shirt-sleeves). Leader of the Green Group.

The Green Party is approaching these elections with confidence and on the back of a strong track record of delivery.

Official Wirral Council data show that Green councillors work harder. Greens reported an average of 283 issues to the council in 2021, the average Labour councillor 54 and the average Conservative 56. Voters can be confident that electing more Greens will result in tangible benefits where they live.

The recent budget voted through by Labour and Conservatives reflected years of Tory imposed austerity and financial mismanagement by Labour. In contrast, Greens have brought forward proposals that not only save money but bring real environmental gains – from reducing the council’s energy consumption, ending the spraying/raking of beaches, promoting and protecting our biodiversity and ending the £1 million annual subsidy for car parking – Green councillors have had a huge impact on the council’s budget and Wirral’s environment.

By voting against school closures in deprived areas, the sell-off of council assets and voting for stronger environmental standards in the regeneration of Birkenhead and a brownfield first policy for new housing, Greens have led the way in building a more progressive, greener future for Wirral and supporting those in our community who are most in need.

Find out more at https://wirral.greenparty.org.uk/

Labour

Cllr. Janette Williamson (Centre, in beige coat) with the Labour Group.

Our priority is the people of Wirral, and providing a safe, well-maintained and inclusive borough.

The Conservative government talks about levelling up, while delivering further austerity and cuts. Labour puts our promises into action.

The regeneration of Birkenhead, Wallasey, Seacombe and New Brighton is exciting.

To be able to develop existing sites into assets our communities can use is a huge step forward.Our commitment to the environment is key, and our Local Plan protects Wirral’s beautiful green spaces, putting new housing only on brownfield sites.

Labour councillors are community councillors who roll their sleeves up and get involved. We ensure that residents’ voices are heard.

This year we have:

  • Stopped the closure of public conveniences
  • Scrapped parking permit increases 
  • Saved school crossing patrols
  • Kept the anti-social behaviour prevention budget 
  • Thrown a lifeline to Woodchurch Leisure Centre, giving it £330k from the fund set aside to demolish it
  • Ensured that the community asset transfer fund keeps wealth in our communities, not selling them off to the highest bidder
  • Supported at-risk libraries to put cases together for community asset transfer
  • Guaranteed not to build on golf courses 
  • Put £113k into a ring-fenced pot to help our most vulnerable residents as energy prices soar – by turning down the heating in council buildings 

Find out more at https://wirrallabour.co.uk/


Liberal Democrats

Cllr. Phil Gilchrist. Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group.

Wirral has to learn lessons from its mistakes, get our basic services right and build on recent successes.

We need fairer funding from the Government to help us meet the costs of care for our ageing population. Wirral needs more care facilities to help the elderly live independent lives safely.

Even though governments have been pushing our schools to become academies we retain a duty to our young people and their parents, to secure effective services covering special needs

It is very clear that Covid has had considerable impact on the progress and health of many young people. We will help develop initiatives to overcome this.

 We have to deal with a legacy of ageing council offices and leisure facilities. The new building in Birkenhead will help tackle energy bills and help turn the town centre round..

We need a similar plan to replace ageing leisure centres with modern, energy efficient buildings.

 The new local plan gives us a fighting chance to deal with dereliction and to turn Wirral round.  Rising food prices underline the need to protect our land.  We will take a tough line with those developers who still hope to build on our countryside and farmland.

Find out more at https://wirrallibdems.org.uk/en/


Following is a full list of Wirral candidates. Where a candidate’s name is in italics, it denotes that that person is the sitting councillor.

Bebington

PartyCandidate
LabourBrenda Ashton
GreenJudith Grier
ConservativeNicola Oakley
Liberal DemocratsNoel Thompson

Bidston and St James

PartyCandidate
GreenJayne Clough
LabourLiz Grey
ConservativeTina McDonnell
Liberal DemocratsMike Parsons

Birkenhead and Tranmere (Two councillors to be elected)

PartyCandidate
Liberal DemocratsRoss Alexander Campbell
GreenPat Cleary
ConservativeMike Clements
LabourPaul Jobson
LabourTony Murphy
GreenAmanda Onwuemene
Liberal DemocratsEdward Smith
ConservativeColin Young

Bromborough

PartyCandidate
ConservativeGraham Davies
Liberal DemocratsVicky Downie
GreenEdward Lamb
LabourSue Percy

Clatterbridge

PartyCandidate
ConservativeMary Jordan
LabourThomas Laing
GreenJim McGinley
Liberal DemocratsChristopher Raymond

Claughton

PartyCandidate
For BritainGary Bergin
Liberal DemocratsRobert Evans
GreenLiz Heydon
ConservativeAndy Hodson
LabourGillian Wood

Eastham

PartyCandidate
Liberal DemocratsChristopher Carubia
ConservativeDenise Crossley-Williams
GreenPercy Hogg
LabourNicole Williams

Greasby, Frankby and Irby

PartyCandidate
ConservativeTracy Elzeiny
LabourGail Jenkinson
GreenCathy Page
Liberal DemocratsMichael Redfern

Heswall

PartyCandidate
LabourAnn Ainsworth
GreenBarbara Burton
ConservativePaul Connolly
Liberal DemocratsLucy Johnson

Hoylake and Meols

PartyCandidate
GreenAlix Cockcroft
ConservativeTony Cox
IndependentJohn Ellis
Liberal DemocratsPeter Reisdorf
LabourDavid Sindall

Leasowe and Moreton East

PartyCandidate
ConservativeDebbie Caplin
LabourAngie Davies
Liberal DemocratsChase Newton
GreenHannah Rapley

Liscard

PartyCandidate
Liberal DemocratsFrancis Doyle
ConservativeJane Owens
GreenPerle Sheldricks
LabourJanette Williamson

Moreton West and Saughall Massie

PartyCandidate
GreenHilary Cullen
LabourJames Laing
Liberal DemocratsChristopher Teggin
ConservativeVida Wilson

New Brighton

PartyCandidate
Liberal DemocratsAdam Keenan
ConservativeDarren May
LabourSue Powell-Wilde
GreenCynthia Stonall

Oxton

PartyCandidate
Liberal DemocratsAllan Brame
UKIPPhilip Griffiths
GreenRachel Heydon
LabourSusan Mahoney
ConservativePhilip Merry

Pensby and Thingwall

PartyCandidate
GreenAllen Burton
ConservativeLeah Frazer
LabourFinlay Gordon
Liberal DemocratsPhil Waterfield

Prenton

PartyCandidate
GreenNaomi Graham
ConservativeWilliam Harland
LabourJulienne McGeough
Liberal DemocratsDavid Tyrrell

Rock Ferry

PartyCandidate
LabourChris Davies
IndependentStephen Davies
GreenCraig McDonald
ConservativeSimon Mendies
Liberal DemocratsTom Sutton

Seacombe

PartyCandidate
ConservativeBobby Cartwright
LabourJohn Hoey
Liberal DemocratsAnthony Morris
GreenRae Voller

Upton

PartyCandidate
LabourStephen Bennett
GreenLily Clough
Liberal DemocratsAlan Davies
ConservativeDavid Fairbairn

Wallasey

PartyCandidate
LabourAndrew Bennett
Liberal DemocratsJohn Codling
GreenMoira Gommon
ConservativeLesley Rennie

West Kirby and Thurstaston

PartyCandidate
ConservativeJeff Green
GreenYvonne McGinley
Northern Independence PartyLawrence Monk
Liberal DemocratsJohn Mullins
LabourLouise Reecejones

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