Kirklees Labour Group Local Election Launch

Kirklees Labour Group Manifesto and List of Candidates for the

Local Elections 2nd May 2019

Councillor Shabir Pandor, Council Leader, said, at the release of the Labour Group Manifesto, that “I have been proud over the last year to have delivered a Local Plan for Kirklees and a budget which gives us an opportunity to invest money in our towns and villages to revitalise them and to make them able to face the difficulties that all town centres are experiencing in this changing world. All this at the same time as prioritising the most vulnerable in our society, making sure that our services for children and vulnerable adults are the best we can make them in these times of austerity.”

“This is why as a Labour Group we are also happy to back the Local Government Association’s Campaign ‘Breaking Point’. Alongside all other local authorities in the country we are telling the Government that local authorities have reached breaking point! Cuts, year on year, are bringing us to our knees.”

“That is why I am proud of the Council I lead, the Council that, despite every challenge that has been thrown at it over the last few years, has managed to maintain vital services and to put something back into communities. I look forward to seeing the results of all this hard work in the coming few years.”

In the last few years Labour has delivered a huge amount for people throughout Kirklees whilst facing unprecedented levels of cuts from the Tory Government in Westminster. We have managed to protect frontline services, balance the books and made progress on regeneration of our town centres. There are tough decisions ahead of us but it is not all doom and gloom. There is much we want to do, much we can achieve by investing to strengthen our communities.  We want residents young and old to live healthy lives in safe communities, with access to recreation and the services they need. We want those who require extra support to receive it. Local groups, organisations and the voluntary sector play a significant role in shaping our communities and we will commit to helping them to do this.

This year we have set a budget which supports our focus on People, Place and Partners, we have agreed our Local Plan which will help to achieve our ambition and we will be shortly unveiling our Masterplan for our towns and villages. This is the culmination of many years of hard work by the Labour Cabinet and our officers to protect the residents and businesses of Kirklees from the damaging effects of the Tory Government’s attack on Local Government. So, this year, in launching our manifesto, we also want to send a strong message to central government that enough is enough, austerity isn’t over and we, Kirklees Council, along with all other local authorities in the country are at “breaking point”!  We are joining with others in the local government community to support the LGA’s campaign to bring pressure on the government to support local government not to work against them.

Our priorities are:-

• Children in Kirklees to have the best start in life
• People in Kirklees are as well as possible for as long as possible
• People in Kirklees have aspiration and achieve their ambitions through education, training and lifelong learning
• People in Kirklees feel safe and protected from harm
• Kirklees has sustainable economic growth for communities and businesses
• People in Kirklees experience a high quality, clean, sustainable and green environment
• People in Kirklees live independently and have control over their live

Our candidates are:-

Candidate	Ward
Julia Green-Wiles	Almondbury
Cllr Amanda Pinnock	Ashbrow
Cllr Habiban Zaman	Batley East
Yusra Hussain	Batley West
Cath Pinder	Birstall and Birkenshaw
Khalid Patel	Cleckheaton
Lesley Warner	Colne Valley
Cllr Mohamed Sarwar	Crosland Moor and Netherton
Cllr Mussarat Khan	Dalton
Jackie Ramsay	Denby Dale
Cllr Eric Firth	Dewsbury East
Cllr Nosheen Dad	Dewsbury  South
Cllr Darren O’Donovan	Dewsbury  West
Cllr Hilary Richards	Golcar
Cllr Carole Pattison	Greenhead
Aafaq Butt	Heckmondwike
John Heneghan	Holme Valley North
Paul Davies	Holme Valley South
Neil Denby	Kirkburton
Lisa Hogarth	Lindley
Jude McKaig	Liversedge and Gomersal
Keiron Dunn	Mirfield
Chris Owen	Newsome