Local Elections 2026: This council can't afford a return to a Conservative administration
The budget for this year and the next two years is already in place and balanced, if not unprecedented, then certainly within living memory. The focus can now shift from achieving a balanced budget to improving services. Make no mistake: there is no magic money tree; a lot of work is needed to restore reserves to a healthy level.
What we can’t forget is the myth that the Conservatives are the financially responsible party simply isn’t true. It is largely due to their two decades in control that we have reached such a precarious situation. Financial deals that ended up costing the council dearly, such as the Hilton hotel, Empower solar panels, and a slew of bad property decisions - the PUFC ground, TK Maxx, John Mansfield Centre, and demolition of the Regional Pool. And when I say costing the council, I of course mean the taxpayer, you and I. Reform 2025 Ltd will have you believe that the eye-watering debt being carried by the council is squarely due to the Labour Party. If they manage to take control, will they take ownership of the debt? I hardly think so.
Admittedly, there was the purchase of Sand Martin House for £50m that added to the debt, but that was put through on the basis that the cost of borrowing was substantially lower than the cost of leasing, and with a poorly negotiated lease that was set to spiral over time, yet another deal signed off by the Conservative administration.
Moving on to the electioneering, previous highlights have been the pre-election Stand Up for Peterborough campaign asking the then Conservative government to rebalance the money the city gets from the treasury, despite having two Tory MPs and a Conservative-run administration, they failed to get any fairer funding to help with our budget and it was quietly dropped after the election. A FOI request by former Lib Dem councillor James Lillis confirmed this.
We also had a pledge for free bulk waste collection, which, despite being properly funded in the budget, took 5 months after the election to start and lasted only 3 months before running out of funds. There was also scaremongering about congestion charging and a war on motorists, neither of which has happened.
This year, the Conservatives are talking about village-style changing rooms in the new swimming pool consultation, forgetting, of course, that their 2020 feasibility study included village-style changing rooms. Their vision, of course, is to return the city to their “safe” hands, which simply can’t happen; we can’t afford their eyes firmly shut, driving style, where successes are their successes and failures are the result of council officers' poor advice.
What we need is progressive leadership, as we have had since September, under a cross-party administration, prepared to put political differences aside to deliver the best outcomes for Peterborough people. There are still myriad legacy issues from previous administrations to work through and sort out.
The Liberal Democrats, under the leadership of Cllr Christian Hogg, have been at the forefront of this cross-party working relationship, so it is key that he is re-elected, along with Cllrs Andrew Bond and Asif Shaheed, so that this pivotal work can continue.