Election Reflections: Our positive vision for the next 4 years
PLUS: Watch Neil Garratt on ITV News
Election Recap: Celebrating Successes and Looking Ahead
We are proud to have elected 8 City Hall Conservatives at the recent London Elections, winning the constituencies of Bexley & Bromley, Croydon & Sutton and Havering & Redbridge. While we are disappointed that Susan Hall did not emerge victorious in the mayoral contest, the result was a strong showing which bucked national trends.
Three former members of the City Hall Conservatives – Nick Rogers, Peter Fortune and Tony Devenish – have now left the Assembly and we wish them all the best in their future endeavours. We would also like to welcome Thomas Turrell, the new Assembly Member for Bexley & Bromley, and Alessandro Georgiou, who was elected from the Londonwide List.
Our new team is ready to spell out our positive vision for London, to speak up for our constituents and to hold the Mayor to account – continuing to work cross-party where needed.
London needs more affordable housing!
The lack of homes which Londoners can afford is a serious issue which is holding our city back. Without affordable homes, Londoners cannot start families, young people can’t start an independent life of their own, and working people cannot move closer to job opportunities – which in turn makes everybody poorer.
This week’s GLA's housing figures paint a sobering picture. Just 2,358 GLA Housing affordable homes were started over the last year – a record low. And since the word ‘started’ is defined somewhat liberally (not a single brick needs to be laid), this spells out bad news for the future of affordable homes in our city.
We are glad that the Mayor agrees with us on the importance of affordable homes, and we are also glad that the Government has given him money to build those affordable homes – now these words must be turned into actions.
Transportation Turmoil: Tram and Central Line Issues
The recent disruptions to Croydon's Tramlink and ongoing issues with the Central Line highlight the urgent need for investment in TfL’s ‘rolling stock’. Residents in areas of outer London like New Addington have endured weeks of service disruptions to their only fast transport link (at one point having no service at all), while commuters on the Central Line face delays and cancellations due to train failures.
The much-trumpeted partial fares freeze mainly benefits tourists and occasional travellers - those who commute or travel frequently will see that the Daily Cap has still gone up. However, the money that TfL has lost by partially freezing fares is around £120 million per year, which could replace London’s entire tram fleet - twice! It's a false economy to save a few pence on a Tube fare, if that Tube is overcrowded and unreliable.
Neil Garratt - London Assembly Member for Croydon & Sutton - spoke on ITV News yesterday about the tram issues which you can watch below.
Coming Up: Mayor’s Question Time
The first Mayor’s Question Time of the new term will take place at 10am on Thursday. You can watch live here: https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/londonassembly/meetings/mgCalendarMonthView.aspx?GL=1&bcr=1