East Herts Council election: Labour, Liberal Democrats and Green Party look to further loosen Conservatives’ grip on power after gains in 2019
The four main political parties fighting for control of East Herts Council in Thursday’s election (May 4) say there is everything still to play for.
Eight years ago, the Conservatives wiped out the opposition and turned the district true blue, winning all 50 seats.
In 2019, they lost 10 seats: six to the Liberal Democrats – including four in Bishop’s Stortford – and two each to Labour (both in Hertford) and the Green Party (one in Hertford and one in Ware). All three opposition parties believe they can make gains.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives are urging voters to consider their “track record of delivering for local people and our community”, hoping they can keep control of the authority, on which they have 39 seats. Hertford Kingsmead’s Mari Stevenson, who won for the Tories in 2019 and became an Independent, is not seeking re-election.
A boundary shake-up since 2019 means that while East Herts Council will still have 50 members, the number of wards has been cut from 30 to 26. Each ward is represented by one, two or three councillors, depending on the size of the electorate.
A total of 166 candidates are standing across East Herts, which includes the towns of Hertford, Ware, Sawbridgeworth and Buntingford as well as dozens of villages and hamlets.
Of the current 50 councillors, 17 are not standing again: 13 Tories – including council leader Cllr Linda Haysey and Bishop’s Stortford’s Holly Drake – two Lib Dems (including Terence Beckett in Stortford), one Labour and one Green.
Of the 33 others, 13 are standing in the same ward as last time and 20 are standing in different or new wards.
The boundary shake-up means that after May 4, Bishop’s Stortford will have an extra representative on East Herts, giving the town 14 seats.
The Boundary Commission has divided Stortford into six wards, with two councillors each for the All Saints, Central, Parsonage and South wards and three each for the North and Thorley Manor wards.
Stortford currently has 13 seats in five wards. These are held by nine Conservatives and four Lib Dems.
There are 43 candidates for the 14 EHC seats in Stortford and only the Conservatives are contesting every one of them. There are also 11 from Labour, nine Lib Dems, seven Greens, one Independent (in Parsonage) and one Heritage Party member (in All Saints).
Liberal Democrat Cllr Chris Wilson is again standing in Bishop’s Stortford All Saints ward, where two seats are up for grabs.
He said: “I’ve seen a remarkable shift on the doorstep. It was a bit of a surprise last time [in 2019] when we got rid of [all three] sitting Conservative councillors in my ward. Canvassing then was pretty good and now it’s even better.
“We’re getting unprecedented responses in my ward and we’re seeing other wards following a similar pattern.
“We’re hearing from people who say they won’t vote Conservative and are looking to us as a sensible alternative. We’re seeing name recognition for the work that we’ve done. I’ve not heard one person say they’ll vote Green.
“I’ve heard a few voters for Labour, others who will vote for us tactically and a lot who are saying they wouldn’t vote Tory but wouldn’t vote Labour either.”
Cllr Wilson added: “There’s a disillusionment with the Conservatives nationally and that’s grown since last time.
“And to be frank, the East Herts Tory administration has completely messed up Bishop’s Stortford. They’ve put too many developments here without the necessary infrastructure.”
Cllr David Snowdon is currently a Conservative councillor in Stortford’s Meads ward. After the boundary review, he is contesting one of two Bishop’s Stortford South seats.
He said: “Here in Bishop’s Stortford we have delivered the excellent new Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre and are investing £3m in Castle Park which will see the provision of new tennis courts, new skate park, new pump track, new community centre, a cafe, improvements to paths and much more.
“The priority for the local Conservative Party is providing excellent local services and leisure facilities for local people.
“Local people are telling me they’re very pleased with their Conservative councillors and their track record of delivering for local people and our community.
“Only the Conservatives have candidates for every seat in East Herts and here in Bishop’s Stortford for the town council.
“On the doorstep we’re hearing a range of priorities from local people. They want to see strong investment in local services and facilities. They want to see a vibrant town centre and are asking for us to continue our investments in reducing East Herts' carbon footprint.”
Labour has traditionally had little representation in East Herts, but one of the party’s two Bishop’s Stortford Central ward candidates, Yvonne Estop, said: “On the doorstep we’re getting a lot of ‘don’t knows’ and quite a lot of people saying they’re not going to vote. We interpret that as people who did vote Tory before but now aren’t turning out.
“What people do talk about is development, and there’s a strong reaction against development. That’s a shame because a town growing is a good thing – it’s good for business, it’s good for the community, it’s good for services.
“What’s been happening over the past few Tory years is that it hasn’t been about housing, it’s been about house-building.
“We need infrastructure – travel, health, open space and play – real things for community-building.
“We want to make Stortford a very strong and bonded town because it’s the main town of this part of Herts and Essex. What we want is a proper focus on housing for people so the tenure and affordability are correct.”
“We want to have a better balance on the council so there’s proper discussion for a more democratic local authority.”
The Green Party’s Cllr Martin Butcher, who is standing again in Ware St Mary’s, said the district “could well be a four-way fight”.
“The Green Party is strong in Hertford and Ware – in a serious way. We’re quietly confident of our prospects. We’ve got candidates who are former Conservatives, people like me who stand on the left of politics and a former Liberal Democrat among our nominees.
“We’re putting in the hard work, leafletting and canvassing for months, and we’re getting a lot of people on the doorstep saying they’re switching to Green from the Conservatives. We’re also hearing a lot of Conservatives are going to stay home.”
“The overtone to this election is national. People are fed up with the Government – the chaos with Liz Truss last autumn, inflation, rising taxes and rising fuel prices.
“People are upset and angry but none of that’s local – that sets the tone.”