In 700AD, John of Beverley (who later became a Saint) founded Inderawuda. At the time there wasn’t much more than a church. However, the area developed over the centuries and has gone on to become the thriving town of Beverley.

Beverley and the surrounding area is home to fantastic businesses, so much history and wonderful people. Those people deserve to be represented by those who care, those who will stand up for them and those who will make the area even better than it already is.

In the three wards (St Marys, Beverley Rural and Minster & Woodmansey) we have some amazing candidates that will bring real change.

Minster & Woodmansey

In 2019 three conservative councillors won. Whilst all three are still councillors at the time of typing this, only two are still Conservative. Only a third of the ward voted and the highest vote share one of the winners got was a mere 13.8%. Back in 2015 the turnout was much higher (63%). Whilst the biggest vote share at the time was only 15.2%, it was still higher. Labour proved on both occasions that they’re the only viable alternative in the area and they were even closer in 2019.

So, what’s happened in recent times under the Conservatives? Well, there’s been an increase in anti-social behaviour, as well as violence and sexual offences. Although there has been a slight decrease in crime most recently, there has been an overall increase in he past year. It’s well known that the councillors for Minster & Woodmansey should be doing more to fix this problem. They have failed.

The area has a majority of people aged 16-64 and it’s greater than the percentage for the East Riding of Yorkshire as a whole. It has more private rented and social rent and a lower percentage of home ownership (again compared to the East Riding as a whole. There’s more full time employees and a large number of people in professional roles. In general people are comfortable, but not affluent. There are many who are classed as ‘savvy spenders‘ and in this category nearly half don’t have the fastest broadband, there’s some deprivation and a number of single/low income households. Essentially, there’s a lot of people who could be getting more and deserve help.

The area has also seen plenty of development without thought for the infrastructure around it, meaning that services are facing increasing pressure. We also see development on greenfield spaces.

The Tories have also brought a significant amount of controversy which brings he council into disrepute and needs to be taken seriously. Minster & Woodmansey once had a Tory councillor called Dominic Peacock. He once famously mocked a fundraising page related to the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox and was unapologetic about his views. He felt her death was being used against the ‘Brexit cause’. There was even a petition set up with the aim of seeing him disqualified.

Then there’s Paul Nickerson. On his Twitter account he showed a doctored picture of Jeremy Corbyn laying a wreath by a car that was blown up in a terrorist attack in Liverpool. The implication was that Corbyn was a terrorist sympathiser. This was unforgiveable. It was insulting to the people of Liverpool and disgracefully unprofessional. He initially denied it was him who posted it, but later admitted it. This Twitter account was also where had made council-related posts and clearly stated that he was a councillor. There was a petition with hundreds of signatures calling for his resignation. There were scores of complaints, widespread national media attention and more. It led to disciplinary action and he eventually lost the Tory whip. It’s fair to say that he did not comply with the Nolan principles of public life and does not deserve to hold public office. Whilst he is not standing this time, it is yet another sign that the conservatives don’t care about Minster & Woodmansey and they have a history of selecting sub-par candidates.

In this election, the people have an amazing chance to bring real change. Tony Maione has years of experience as a barrister, lawyer and chartered company secretary. He was also the director of a major £150m project and is a Director in the UK Business Council. Margaret Pinder has practiced international law and has experience in the legal aspect of public sector construction. Margaret is also a former Mayor of Beverley and experienced Beverley Town Councillor. She has also been a candidate for Labour in a general election. Finally, Ron Laden is a decorated former member of the armed forces who served in numerous places – including Afghanistan and Iraq. He’s also been responsible for numerous multi-million pound projects. All three are passionate about the area. They will be professional, high qualiy public representatives who will do their best for all residents.

St Marys

St Mary’s has a higher percentage of over 65s compared to the East Riding of Yorkshire as a whole. Whilst there are a number of people who are considered ‘ settled and secured’, there’s also over 20% of people who don’t own their own home and some who require financial support. The crime statistics also show a lot of anti-social behaviour, violence and sexual offences over the past three years.

The current three councillors are all Liberal Democrats. They were all elected in 2019 with one of the more decent voter turnouts, but none reached a vote percentage of 20%. The turnout was significantly down from 2015 as well. One of the Lib Dems (who are all running for re-election) is Denis Healy – a multiple time general election loser who finished eighth place in 2015 and finished behind a member of UKIP. As a leading figure on Beverley Town Council, he has frequently been in arguments with those who dare to disagree with him. Most recently, he openly said that Margaret Pinder and Ron Laden (two of our candidates in Minster & Woodmansey) weren’t real members of the public. This was simply because they dared to think differently to him. He is a man who doesn’t appreciate debate and cannot deal with differences in a polite way. David Boynton (another of the St Mary’s councillors) recently stated we were practising “gutter politics” for merely posting about our campaign and saying we were the best option.

All three Lib Dem ward councillors are on Beverley Town Council and under their control, the council has received multiple warnings from auditors, spent a lot of money on an old building without a survey beforehand, built up too much in terms of reserves and also failed to pay the gas bill. This is not what you need from ward councillors.

The Lib Dems have failed since they took the ward from the Tories and the people deserve better. The Liberal Democrats seek power and when they get it, they fail to manage effectively and they provide no scrutiny. Instead of promoting their own candidates, they criticise others in the most childish of ways.

The Tories aren’t any better. A plan for a tip on Ings Road was deferred and considered to be a success by the Tories. However, they forgot to mention that it was the Tory controlled council who proposed it in he first place. There’s also a possibility that, despite the public opposition, the plans may go ahead after the election.

Labour is offering the people of St Marys something more and something better.

Ann Willis and Jim Whitfield are dedicated local people who are passionate about improving the people for the residents and providing effective scrutiny. Jim is a former teacher, youth worker and school governor. He has years of experience of looking after people and enriching the lives of future generations. Ann is a member of Beverley Town Council and former mayor. She is highly experienced with local government and knows how to make things work. Both of our candidates also have a history of volunteering – giving up their time to make things better.

Beverley Rural

Beverley Rural currently has a mixture of Tories and Liberal Democrats as their ward councillors. As I’ve stated earlier in this article, both parties have proved themselves incapable of governing effectively. The Tories take your votes for granted and the Liberal Democrats cannot scrutinise well enough. The councillors that the ward has have done nothing for the area. There’s very little news coverage of them doing anything – apart from when Cllr Gateshill called a member of the public “eccentric”.

Cllrs Beaumont and Gateshill are standing down, but the new Tory candidates aren’t much better. Madeleine Horton hasn’t been involved with local government for very long (a short period at parish council level). Richard Royal has lost multiple times in Hull City Council local elections and Richard Warren has a similar lack of experience.

Our Labour candidates are exactly the opposite. They are passionate Beverley locals with a wide variety of experience who will listen to residents as well as standing up for them. Claire Wildey has been a member of Beverley Town Council for several years and knows how local government works. She also has significant voluntary experience and believes in upholding the standards of public life. Both John Fawcett and Wendy Cross know and love the area. They have strong links to it and want the best for the residents. They will not just gain power and then do nothing with it. They want local government to work for the people.

In conclusion…

Our opponents have called us daft. They have said we do “gutter politics” and claim that we aren’t real members of the public. It’s all petty insults at a time when they should promote their own candidates. The residents of Beverley deserve better than this.

Our our candidates believe in respect. They believe in listening to residents and giving their best to the community.

You won’t get any scandals. Only hard work. Protection of Beverley’s wonderful history and beautiful green land. The only development approved will be that which is backed up by quality infrastructure. We will also show a greater urgency in protecting the environment.

Things will get better with Labour. Vote for us in May.