By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

With council elections less than three weeks away, we have spoken to leaders at all parties standing in Southampton.

From bins and road safety to council housing and litter, the parties are setting out their stalls ahead of polling day.

One seat in each of the 17 Southampton City Council wards is up for grabs when residents cast their vote on Thursday, May 2.

There are Conservative, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidates in every ward. Reform UK have eight candidates across the city.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted each party and asked for a senior representative to tell us about their priorities and why residents should vote for them. Here is what they had to say, listed alphabetically by party.

Conservative
Daniel Fitzhenry, leader of the Conservative group

Since winning back the council in May 2022, Labour in Southampton have taken our city to the edge of bankruptcy, caused chaos on our roads and are failing to collect the bins, due to a dispute with council bin staff.

They have increased council tax by over 10 per cent, council rents by nearly 15 per cent, raised parking charges and are reducing road, pavement and pothole repairs. Labour are destroying our great city.

But – at this local election – you can send them a message that “enough is enough” by voting for your local Conservative candidates to hold Labour to account and stop their distraction of our city.

When we ran the council from May 2021 to 2022 we froze council tax, doubled investment into road repairs and scrapped evening parking charges- we had a bold vision for our city and we delivered.

So at this election, do you want any more of Labours destruction of our city? Or do you want to help your local Conservatives win back the council and make Southampton into the great city it can be?

It’s a clear choice and it is time to vote Local Conservatives on May 2.

Green
Katherine Barbour, Green Party councillor

Philosophy

The underlying belief of the Green party is that we should live in a way to meet the needs of all without upsetting the natural ecosystem of the planet.

In order to achieve this we need to drastically reduce our CO2 output and improve the health and security of our people so they do not feel the need to pollute so much to survive.

Therefore, our priorities for Southampton are:

Make homes more energy efficient and build more well-insulated homes
Encourage people to travel on less polluting forms of transport
Plant more trees and protect green spaces
Increase access to the waterfront providing facilities for people to be more active.
Install proper cycle lanes. Support the council’s plan for mass transit and park-and-ride services.
Homeless people need more support, it is not humane that so many are sleeping out during the freezing winter months.

Why should residents vote for the Green Party?

The Green Party has a full set of policies from environmental, business to sustainable matters. The Green Party works hard for the city. As the first elected Green councillor, I have done over 150 pieces of casework in her first year.

Labour
Lorna Fielker, leader of the Labour group

Labour believes that people make Southampton.

For families, Labour will:

Make roads safer.
Clamp down on bad landlords.
Work with employers, to create jobs and apprenticeships.

To keep people safe Labour will:

Support police and community together meetings, giving you a direct line to your community policing and safety teams.
Tackle anti-social behaviour with Southampton community wardens.
Improve the local environment by clamping down on fly-tipping with CCTV.

To help with the cost-of-living Labour will:

Deliver more affordable homes.
Provide support to make homes more energy efficient.
Help with the cost-of-living crisis through our warm welcome scheme.
Continue the £1 bus fare in the evenings.

To address the environment Labour will:

Clean up air pollution.
Become a zero-carbon city council by 2030.
Provide flood defences for areas threatened by rising water levels.
Work to bring in new bus routes.

Labour takes pride in Southampton and will:

Get our high streets thriving and bring empty shops back into use.
Work with communities to tackle neighbourhood issues, so that even more people can feel proud of where they live.
Protect street cleaning budgets.
Encourage people to shop local to support Southampton businesses.

Liberal Democrat
Richard Blackman, Liberal Democrat group leader

Key priorities

Financial stability

Sound financial management is vital in ensuring the delivery of essential services. We will implement a long-term financial investment strategy to shore up the council’s finances. A diverse portfolio of house-building and commercial investment will not only provide stability but also generate revenue to reinvest in existing services.

Sustainable transport

We must introduce a park-and-ride system to provide a genuine alternative to the car for visitors. The creation of a central transport hub linking trains, buses, coaches, ferries, and active travel should be prioritised. This will reduce congestion and contribute to a cleaner and greener environment for all.

Addressing housing need

With 7,500 households on the council’s waiting list, we must increase the supply of affordable housing by developing vacant sites in the city. We would also seek to purchase additional housing. We must speed up the time taken to turn around vacant council houses and improve times that tenants wait for basic repairs.

Reliable waste collection

We are committed to restoring reliable refuse collection. We also want to ensure that the Council’s recycling centre is easy to use and will introduce new schemes to prevent fly-tipping.

Reform UK
John Edwards, leader of Southampton Reform UK

We know the problems: a failed economy, mass migration, failing services, housing, waiting list and so on. Reform UK has a pragmatic plan to help our country. We will stimulate growth by cutting taxes, raise tax threshold from £12,500 to £20,000,

NHS staff to pay zero basic rate of tax for three years, physically turn the boats back, control our borders, getting the five million Brits on welfare back into work, cutting waste, cut VAT and energy tariffs saving you money. Paying this via growth, cutting foreign aid… read our Contract with the People for details.

The Tories and Labour have wrecked our city, spending their time on getting re-elected rather than making Southampton great. Reform UK will cut out the waste and focus on the core issues of getting our roads open with repairs and improving traffic flow, sort out our crumbling housing stock, drive the freeport status bringing us all wealth, attract business to the city with good jobs, help communities retake back their communities, clear up the litter and we pay for this by first removing the problem: Tories and Labour! It’s time for Reform UK so be brave on May 2 and vote for us.

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
Declan Clune, Southampton campaign leader for Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

Southampton voters face this year’s council elections, with increased council tax, rents, charges and further cuts to local services. We are being asked to pay more and more for less and less. Despite having 37 of 51 council seats, Labour continues to carry out Tory austerity. Enough is enough. The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidates call for a freeze on council tax and rents, for a People Budget that puts our needs first so no one goes cold, hungry or homeless.

We are told there is no money for local councils. Yet £billions are spent on the war in Gaza. While seven out of 10 call for a ceasefire, Labour back the Tories to continue this horrific slaughter. If this is Labour’s view what hope can there be for our local services?

A campaign led by the council, united with council workers, local trade unions and our communities to demand the return of £510 million cut from the council since 2010 could see council jobs and services restored and reverse the devastating impact of austerity. If Labour won’t fight, then stand aside for those that will. Southampton TUSC candidates pledge if elected they will refuse to vote for cuts.