Russell Bernstein: We need to show that the Conservatives are the best option to achieve value for money

Cllr Russell Bernstein represents Pilkington Park Ward on Bury Council.

There will be many of us who are relieved that we did not have to face local elections recently in May. The bloodbath, as described by Kemi Badenoch, would have brought significant losses to the remaining Conservative seats in Bury and no doubt across the country. For us in Bury we have worked hard locally, been seen to be constructive and to seek pragmatic local solutions, which resulted in us only losing one seat in 2024. It happened to be what was once considered one of our safest seats in the North Manor Ward – with Liam Dean becoming the first Conservative to ever lose in the Ward. So, against a national context of being unpopular, the 2024 results could have been significantly worse. The fear obviously is that this is a pattern which could well continue in other seats unless we work harder and articulate what voting Conservative means.

We all face a vital 12 months, in which we need to make progress and articulate what voting Conservative locally means to people. We need to regain the trust and confidence of the British people, by having policies that reflect true Conservative values of low taxation, encouraging aspiration, less state intervention, and at a local level, offer value-for-money services to the communities we serve. Personally, I would be advocating for a policy in local government that lifts the cap on council tax, which I believe would provide greater opportunity to highlight high-spending Labour Councils – and in the new political world, such a policy would challenge Reform Councils against well-organised and cost-effective Conservative Councils. We need to recapture our Conservative values and not be afraid to stand up for what we believe in. Let’s not try to out-Reform, Reform. Let’s stick to the beliefs that have made us the most successful political party in the democratic world.

There is this continual background noise by some in the Party to once again want to change the Leader; we need to put such ridiculous ideas to bed and to unite behind Kemi – because, as we all know, any Party which is not united will never get public support. Some people in The Conservative Party need to remember that we are not a Premiership football club, who, following a barren season, sack the coach. We need to be a mature political movement that sticks together during tough times and re-focuses its vision and policies to reflect what voting Conservative means for the electorate now and over the next five to ten years. We need to broaden our appeal to the younger generation articulating how a modern Conservative Party will facilitate home ownership for a generation who currently regard such a basic aspiration as beyond too many.

We also need to reassure pensioners that it is only us Conservatives who will consistently support people when they grow old and how, through our continual lobbying about the callous removal of winter fuel allowance, forced a Government U-turn. We are still the only Party that business can rely on, and let’s look to keep the pressure on the Labour Government about increases to national insurance and the negative impact this is having on growth and jobs. These are all issues which we have found, predictably, are impacting local people.

We also need to be unafraid to highlight things we did well during our period of office, education being a prime example. Locally in Greater Manchester economic growth has been 3.1 per cent since the devolution deal with Andy Burnham, so instead of letting the Mayor claim this as his victory we should be making our case that the devolution partnership provided the platform for such levels of economic growth.

When Kemi says we need to renew as a Party I think it’s vital in each area of the country for us to exactly do that. For me in Bury it gives the opportunity to highlight that the local Conservative stance is a caring one and does not reflect the ridiculous view of the former Bury North MP about Bury parents being “crap parents”. Messages such as these do the Conservative reputation no favours with the electorate. So while we have a massive fight on our hands to turn round our current electoral position I firmly believe if we can start soon to deliver policy initiatives, unite fully behind Kemi, and those of us in local elections next year redouble our efforts locally, then I am confident we can present ourselves as a Party that the people of this country can once again trust.