Haslemere Town Council last night unanimously approved a motion to declare a climate emergency.

Earlier this month, LibDem leader Jo Swinson delivered a strong speech on the subject at the Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth. 

Earlier this year Parliament declared a climate emergency, but what has the Government done since then? We’ve set off the fire alarm, and now they are just standing by, watching it burn. Literally. For days we watched the Amazon – the world’s lungs – just burn. 

LibDem controlled Godalming TC had declared a climate emergency back in July, and last week Liberal Democrats and their progressive partners on Waverley Borough Council passed a climate motion, in the face of Conservative opposition.  Liberal Democrats are determined to take action on the climate and environmental crisis now before us.

With our new leader and clear policy on Brexit, Liberal Democrats are riding high - in the opinion polls, in by-election results, and in new members.

Current opinions polls from  range of polling companies consistently show us at levels last seen at the height of Cleggmania, in 2010/11. 

We have been making steady gains in by-elections, for parliament and for local councils.

We have seen a surge in new recruits, at all levels: MP's and local councillors, members and registered supporters.

Will you join us?

At a full council meeting last night (Sept 18), Waverley Borough Council passed a climate emergency declaration.

The Waverley Liberal Democrats facebook page reported:

Despite a concerted effort from Conservative (Opposition) Councillors to utterly neuter and dilute the motion (just as they did at Surrey CC where they are control), the new cross-party administration held firm and passed the motion in its full and complete form without any amendments.

(The LibDem controlled Godalming Town Council has already passed a climate emergency motion of its own. The LibDem/Progressive alliance controlled Haslemere Town Council is expected to do the same at their next meeting, on Thursday 26th).

This is fully in keeping with the sentiments declared by Jo Swinson at Conference 2019:

Earlier this year Parliament declared a climate emergency, but what has the Government done since then? We’ve set off the fire alarm, and now they are just standing by, watching it burn. Literally. For days we watched the Amazon – the world’s lungs – just burn. 

To read the LibDem proposals in Jo Swinson's closing speech to combat climate change, and the full text of the Waverley climate motion, see below.

Join our campaign against climate change, here!

Results of the EU Parliamentary elections on May30 2019 were even better than those for the local elections. Here in Waverley, we topped the poll with 35%, contributing to the election of 3 LibDem MEP's for the South East region.

Full results for Waverley (taken from the Waverley BC website) were:

Waverley Liberal Democrats achieved major breakthroughs in the 2019 local elections, both for Waverley Borough Council, and in our towns. At the previous local elections in 2015, we took no seats in any of our councils. This year in contrast, we took 14 of the 57 wards, moving Waverley from near total Conservative dominance, to No Overall Control. 

At town council level, the Conservative collapse continued.

At the 2018 Waverley Liberal Democrats AGM last month, local chair Paul Farthing celebrated the progress the Party had made locally over the past year.

 It started with the Central and Ockford by-election last December, where we won both seats available, for first Waverley borough councillor and a second on Godalming Town. We then ran a very strong campaign last May, just missing out in Farnham Castle, and then a great effort in Hindhead in October, where we have done less well in recent years.

A vigorous campaign by Farnham Liberal Democrats has achieve a notable road safety success for the Potters Gate Primary, with the declaration of a reduced 20 mph speed limit. This will notably improve road safety for the children of the school. 

So near - and yet so far! In the Farnham Castle by-election, our candidate Jo Aylwin came within just 16 votes of the winning Farnham residents' candidate - a strong improvement on our previous result. In the process, the Conservative Party, which was previously strong in the ward, was but a poor third. 

In response to the raising of Council Tax to pay for the toilets in Godalming, Ollie Purkiss, the Godalming Lib Dem Councillor, wrote a letter describing the worrying trend of cuts by government being felt at the local level. The full text of the letter is here:

Godalming Town Council voted to increase Council Tax for 2018 / 2019 mainly because of the continued need to pick up the cost for services cut by other Councils. The most recent example was the public toilets in Godalming and Farncombe which were shut by Waverley Borough Council and then reopened by the Town Council. Toilets in the town are a vital service for residents and visitors alike, and whilst I support the increase to pay for them, the background to this situation and the wider forces at work are deeply concerning.

The reopening of the Godalming and Farncombe toilets was trumpeted as a success for the Conservative majority at the Town Council with Councillors gleefully cutting a ribbon and the Conservative Facebook page trumpetting about the “hard work” of their Councillors in resolving the situation. All this with no mention that the Conservative-run Waverley Council closed them in the first place, or that ten of the twenty Godalming Councillors also sit on the Borough Council, including members of the most senior executive committee one of which is the deputy leader.

We are very pleased to announce that Lib Dem Paul Follows was elected to both Godalming Town Council and Waverley Borough Council for the Central and Ockford ward.

The results were as follows:

Waverley Borough Council

Godalming Town Council