The result of the by election in Bamber Bridge East was Conservative 275 Labour 376 Green 49
Mathew Forshaw commented ‘’This is an excellent result in one of Labour's safest seats in South Ribble which we have never won in a Borough election. We increased our proportion of the vote compared with May 2019 and Labour will feel the draft of our enthusiasm. We were able to launch policies which will carry through to May 2023 to enable us to take back control of South Ribble Council at the next full council election.
‘’Despite I and the Conservative Party have been criticised by the Labour leadership on South Ribble Council, I reject their criticisms and warn South Ribble voters that we need a strong independent local council to play its part in levelling up in the country.
‘’I will continue to campaign against what I see as the Labour Party hidden policy (for which they do not have a mandate) of Chorley taking over the South Ribble Council and eventually merging the two authorities. I will continue to demand that meetings concerning sharing of services advancing this policy, (which results in South Ribble employees being made redundant as occurred 2 weeks ago with 5 IT employees), are heard in public, not in camera. Like other council meetings these should be shown on You Tube particularly where it deals with broad policy. I accept confidentiality is very important when dealing with individual employees.
Transparency and openess in meetings is essential so that the people of South Ribble can see what is being done in their name and can make up their own minds. Only one Shared Services Committee has been heard in public and that only occurred after I raised the issue in the election.
‘’I will be ready to fight again on this issue in May 2023.and I will not be silenced by abuse and allegations of lies, fake news and misrepresentation from the Labour South Ribble Council leadership.
‘’On behalf of the Conservative Association and myself a sincere thanks to all those who helped in the election, your hard work helped to lay the foundation for taking the Bamber Bridge Council seat in May 2023.
