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County's Conservatives a 'changed party'
WITH the new unitary authority enjoying its early days as the one remaining powerhouse in Northumberland, many councillors are trying to find their own roles in the ever-changing landscape.
Areas of South East Northumberland have their own political battles in June with parish and town council elections. Anticipating the conflicts and hoping to make a rare breakthrough in urban Northumberland, Conservative leader Peter Jackson spoke to reporter ANTHONY McLEAN.
Past bares no bones to what we want now - Tory leader
BEING a Conservative leader in one of the country's staunchest Labour strongholds is not one of the most sought after jobs.
Northumberland has been a hot-bed of traditional working-class, Labour activism for decades.
Yet in recent years Labour's support seems to be dwindling and, at least in more rural parts of the county, other political parties appear to be rearing their heads.
The results of the elections to the new unitary authority show just what Labour stand to lose.
The party was knocked out of power by the Liberal Democrats and now share second place with the Conservative party.
However, the Tories still have only 17 seats on the new council– with just one in the urban south east of the county, Cramlington North's Wayne Daley.
Yet the Conservatives are looking forward to battling for the south east vote, and with elections for new town and parish councils expected in June, Conservative and Independent Group leader Peter Jackson is hoping to make a dent in what has traditionally been an anti-Tory locality.
Coun Jackson, who represents Ponteland South and Heddon and was the leader of the now defunct Castle Morpeth Borough Council, said all parties in Northumberland need to work together during what has been a difficult time on all fronts.
Referring to the shift to a single, unitary authority he said: "The Labour Government has dumped us in this unnecessary and unwanted position, and seem quite happy to forget that the people of Northumberland have always said 'no' to a unitary authority.
"We must remember that it was the Labour Government that wanted single councils, and the Northumberland Labour group quite happily proposed the structure we have now, so it is ironic that the criticisms and attacks being launched at the council seem to be coming from the remaining Labour councillors.
"They thought they would be able to take over the county, but the voters made it clear that this is not what they wanted, and they lost a lot of seats because of their arrogance and failure to listen to the people."
Coun Jackson shared his political position with Labour MPs Denis Murphy and Ronnie Campbell in fighting against the unitary, and he backed Mr Campbell last year when he made calls to delay the implementation because of the credit crunch.
"We are where we are," he said.
"We can't keep fighting over battles that have been lost.
"We have to get on and make the best of a bad job.
"A lot of attacks that we as Conservatives face tend to go back 25 years to the time of Margaret Thatcher: the demise of the coal mines, mass unemployment, and so on.
"But we are a changed party. The past bares no relation to what we want to achieve now.
"People want good schools for their children, they want elderly people to be looked after well.
"They want Northumberland to be a safe place to live.
"These are all things we will fight towards."
Coun Jackson is also happy to get involved in the three-tier against two-tier education debate.
It now seems as if Northumberland will see an urban rural split between the two systems, borne out not from any party policy but rather of economic reality.
"For about five or six years the Conservative party locally has been clear on the argument between three and two-tier.
"The shift was made on a false argument. Northumberland has so many different and distinct communities, there just can't be only one possible solution to fit everyone's needs.
"In the urban south east young people do not have very far to travel to get to school, and with good quality transport links I can see the pluses involved with larger schools.
"The standards in Cramlington in particular do seem to be improving.
"But in rural areas we need the exact opposite.
"Young people have to travel 30, 40 or 50 miles to get to school.
"Their needs are very different.
"We have always said that the one size fits all approach is wrong.
"The Liberal Democrats have followed us down that route in holding a review on the situation.
"Yet they seem to be scaling back on their promise to improve education for all of Northumberland. What is happening to Alnwick or Amble?
"The Liberals have fallen for the same rhetoric that Labour Government pumps out, that building larger schools can improve things.
"Good buildings can do wonders, but it is not the only investment required."
Coun Jackson is also angry about allegations of a Liberal Democrat and Conservative alliance, after both parties voted for Northumberland's latest budget.
"This is an easy attack as it scores cheap political points, but there is no alliance.
"The reality is that the Liberals are in a minority administration, and they have to make compromises.
"If those compromises mean that our policies coincide, then we will back them.
"If not, we won't hesitate to make our objections known."
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Weather for Blyth
Sunday 12 February 2012
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Light rain
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