Despite a 15% swing from the Tories to the Liberal Democrats, it was a Conservative who held on to the rural ward of Carsington Water in the Derbyshire Dales, albeit with a reduced majority on an increased turnout.
The Liberal Democrats have demanded a rural cost of living rescue package, including a cap on heating oil prices to help struggling families off the gas grid. The party warned that the Conservatives are leaving rural communities "out in the cold" by refusing to help with soaring bills. Rural communities are bearing the brunt of the cost of living crisis with soaring heating bills, petrol prices and food costs all hitting struggling families.
At a Council Meeting of Derbyshire Dales District Council on April 27th a motion to apologise to the residents of the village of Tansley near Matlock was narrowly defeated as all the Conservative Councillors voted against it.
Whether it is giving water companies 18 years to sort out less than half of their storm sewage discharges or, more locally, suspending food waste collections so that kitchen scraps went to landfill releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas, the Conservative track record on the environment is less than impressive.
The local Conservative party are clearly embarrassed by the Serco debacle, with bins not being emptied reliably. They even...
From the extensive comments about Ashbourne in their by-election leaflets you might have thought that the town was in the Carsington Water Ward. Or is it just that they can think of no benefit that the last two decades of Conservative control in Derbyshire Dales has brought to the immediate area of Carsington Water?