With the election only a few days away, campaigners in Leeds’ most marginal seat are working to ensure their candidate is elected.
In the 2021 local elections, Jonathan Firth ran for the Conservative Party in Temple Newsam, losing by 12 votes to Labour’s Helen Hayden. Now he is running in the seat again and aiming to defeat the deputy leader of the council, Councillor Debra Coupar.
Mr Firth, who has been out campaigning in the area alongside his son, Councillor Sam Firth, who represents Harewood ward and Conservative Party volunteers, said: “I didn’t want to lose any momentum so I am running again.”
Read More: All the candidates and parties standing for election in your area of Leeds this May
His opposition, the current deputy leader of Leeds City Council, said: “I don’t take anything for granted, every vote counts and it's a privilege to be trusted to do the work.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m absolutely going to win,” she added, “that depends on the voters but I will say I’m hopeful.”
Coun Coupar was also out campaigning on the ward alongside her two fellow Labour councillors Helen Hayden and Nicole Sharpe, and the local MP Richard Burgon. The ward was the first in Leeds to be represented entirely by women candidates, a record the councillors are proud of alongside their record of helping local people, particularly during the pandemic by setting up support centres and delivering food parcels.
The spectre of ‘partygate’ also hangs over the election, as Labour campaigners have described the angry response of many residents to high-up members of the cabinet, including the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, being fined for breaches of the lockdown restrictions. According to Coun Hayden, many residents have been pointing out how angry they are to the Labour campaigners.
She said: “An elderly lady, who said she had voted Conservative all her life, used the word ‘disgusted’ with me about the way the Tories have behaved. Another gentleman said to me: ‘Is it only me who sees the hypocrisy?’.”
However, Jonathan Firth said he “can’t do anything about Westminster”, and he wants to focus on getting the best for local residents. He said: “If you want change, you need to vote for it.”
Campaigners with the Tory Party also criticised the way the council runs in the area. Maggie Taylor, who was out campaigning for the Conservative candidate, said: “I know an awful lot of people in the area and I talk to them.
“There were a lot of heavy wagons and cars coming down a country road near where I live but if you complain nothing is done.”
She said she joined the Conservative Party seven years ago after becoming fed up with the lack of action on local issues. Coun Firth agreed that local issues were vital in the election, as this is the area councillors can take action on.
His son Sam said the local 100-year-old Temple Newsam Golf Club was one major area the council had failed on - as well as the state of the local parks and natural areas.
According to Councillor Coupar, many of the problems in the area have stemmed from a loss of funding from the government. She said the council had lost £2.3 billion due to cuts and austerity since the last Labour government in 2010 and needed to prioritise areas like adult and children’s social care.
Ms Coupar asked: “How do you fill a gap like that?”
Richard Burgon, the MP for Leeds East, said: “It is an interesting ward, Boris Johnson and the Conservatives would love to win it and, I can’t say for certain, but I think the Tories are going to be disappointed again.”
In the end, it will be up to local residents to decide who will be elected as their representative on the council.
The Local Elections will be held on Thursday, May 5.
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