R4GV Register As a Political Party

Published on: 15 Mar, 2019
Updated on: 17 Mar, 2019

The new Residents For Guildford And Villages (R4GV) group has won registration as a political party, approved by the Electoral Commission.

They say this will ensure its Independent candidates can be easily identified when they take on the traditional national parties in wards across the borough in the elections on May 2.

With registration, R4GV candidates with will have the party name and emblem logo with their name on the ballot papers voters complete by post or in the polling booths.

Joss Bigmore, the party leader, said: “We are delighted. This means our Independent candidates are now on a level footing with the traditional political parties and, although we have nothing like their resources, we can now challenge them in the wards.

Joss Bigmore

“Although we are fundamentally a group for residents, the laws mean we have to be registered with the Electoral Commission as a party if our candidates are to be identified with the group name on the ballot papers…

“Without registration, we would have only the word ‘Independent’ next to our names and it is far more difficult for voters to understand who we are and what we stand for.”

Mr Bigmore added: “The main difference between ourselves and the national parties is that our first and foremost loyalty is to our local residents, not to a central office in Westminster.

“We are not governed or influenced by a national political body seeking to impose national policies on us and our residents, as we have seen with the Local Plan where the council is proposing massive development across our beautiful countryside, largely ignoring more than 80,000 responses by residents against this.

“And we will have no whipping system. Councillors will act and vote as Independents dedicated to simply representing their residents and communities.”

Conservative council leader Paul Spooner said: “I note that R4GV is now a political party, along with a series of authorised sub-headings for different wards to give the impression of independence under the party affiliation.

“Leader Joss Bigmore, Nominating Officer John Rigg and Party Treasurer Gillian Cameron. We now have a formalised GVG/GSoc Party in R4GV.

“I welcome what was obvious… R4GV is a political party.”

The key policies held by Residents for Guildford and Villages include:

Returning Guildford Borough Council to being run by local people for local people, and not for Westminster;
Establishing true democracy with a council which really listens and responds to residents’ needs;
Ensuring value for money and transparency, spending residents’ money wisely;
Placing greater focus on community services, providing better care for the elderly and vulnerable;
Creating more sustainable, social and genuinely affordable housing, meeting local people’s requirements, rather than central government’s;
Having better planning, prioritising brownfield and urban sites, keeping our spaces and countryside green
Creating a healthier environment, tackling pollution and carbon emissions;
Improving infrastructure, creating an integrated strategy that balances the needs of housing, traffic, transport, retail, commerce and the environment in a sustainable way;
Enabling a vibrant town centre, masterplanning greater pedestrianisation and open spaces, and opening up the riverside with walkways, cafes and restaurants; and
Contesting the Local Plan, seeking to stop the unnecessary massive developments in and around our villages, and creating more sustainable housing where it is actually needed.

Mr Bigmore added: “It’s time to take the national politics out of Guildford. We need a fresh approach with local affairs managed by local people for local people. This is already being successfully achieved in other councils such as Epsom and Ewell, and we know it can be done here.”

More information can be found on the group’s website at www.r4gv.org.uk or by following its Twitter feed @VoteR4GV.

Responses to R4GV Register As a Political Party

David Roberts Reply

March 15, 2019 at 3:21 pm

It should be remembered that Guildford Greenbelt Group (GGG) remains Guildford’s only established local party, whose three councillors have a consistent 4-year track-record of independence and holding the council to account. But if I lived in a ward where there was no GGG candidate, I would probably vote for R4GV, many of whose policies are similar.

There is currently a lot of justified hostility towards all political parties, locally and nationally. But that doesn’t make non-party individuals who label themselves as “Independents” any better: they could be anybody, holding any views including extreme ones. GGG and R4GV are right to try to put forward coherent party platforms that offer a sensible alternative to Guildford’s eternal one-party state.
John Perkins Reply

March 15, 2019 at 8:38 pm

It’s worth restating that the poisonous combination of First-Past-The-Post and multi-member wards is the sole reason for Guildford’s one-party state. In national terms Guildford doesn’t even register as a problem area – there are London boroughs with all Labour councillors despite that party getting half the vote.

Essentially, in a three-seat ward the only way to compete fairly is to put up three candidates. Locally only the Conservative party has the resources and ambition to do that. In Ash & South Tongham in 2015 each Conservative voter got three votes whereas a GGG voter only got one.

Voters are forced to vote tactically or lose.

Supporters of GGG and R4GV should cast their second or third votes in favour of the candidate they least detest.
K White Reply

March 16, 2019 at 2:21 pm

Please could someone explain how building houses and associated infrastructure can ever be “sustainable”? This word is constantly being used in this context. I fail to see how any development that uses the planet’s finite resources can be described as sustainable.
- Joss Bigmore Reply
  
  March 17, 2019 at 9:08 am
  
  Apologies to K White. I believe “sustainable” it is an industry term but it is comparative rather than absolute. What’s important is that we cause the least damage to the environment when building homes for our growing population. Building homes on green fields require homeowners to use cars that will increase pollution, congestion and accidents alongside the loss of farmland and countryside forever. Making better use of town centre brownfield (ie previously developed) sites would reduce the need for cars and be more ‘sustainable’ development as would minimise the depletion of natural resource.
  
  We believe the current iteration of the Local Plan relies too much on greenfield development, although ‘Local’ seems a misnomer. Out canvassing we are struggling to find many people that support the plan outside the GBC Executive, landowners and property developers!
  
  Joss Bigmore is the organiser of Residents for Guildford and Villages who intends to stand as a candidate in the forthcoming borough council election.
Gary Campbell Reply

March 16, 2019 at 2:53 pm

Well done R4GV. Good to see local politics becoming more widespread given the political mess and embarrassment of all national parties. I would like to be part of something like this in Woking area as I am thinking of standing as an Independent as well, for the first time.
- Joss Bigmore Reply
  
  March 16, 2019 at 8:51 pm
  
  We would be very happy to talk to Gary Campbell about our experiences so far. Local policies should be built from residents upwards, not dictated by Westminster. Other boroughs in the county have strong independent representation why not ours? I would ask him to get in touch through our website http://www.r4gv.org.uk.