There’s no one called Boris standing in this election.
It’s a pragmatic answer by Damian Doran-Timson, the West Lothian Conservative group leader when asked about potential fall-out from national politics. The Tories are defending the six seats they won in 2017 and look to grow the party across the county in the local council election next week.
Retiring provost Tom Kerr was for many years the lone Conservative in the council until the last election. The party ranks were further swelled last year when Labour’s Angela Doran-Timson elected in the Broxburn ward joined Conservatives within a year of her marriage to the group leader.
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Damian Doran-Timson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the local Conservatives had worked hard for their constituents since 2017 and many recognised that.
He also pointed to the input Conservatives have had on council policy.
This year Conservatives marked the inclusion of greater spending on mental health provision and addiction services as a measure of their influence on the council budget.
Since 2017 they have claimed victory in stopping the sell off of the Ability Centres, which provide day care for those with profound disabilities.
They have also campaigned for better gritting on pavements and roads and for changes to road safety as well as backing demands of infrastructure improvements, as well as greater investment in local business.
Councillor Doran-Timson said: “ There is no one called Boris on the ballot paper. This election is about voting for a local councillor who will be dealing with local issues and local actions.
“It’s not about the UK government or even the Holyrood government. It is about the councillors who are doing work in your area and I’ve got no doubt that residents of West Lothian have seen the hard work of Conservative councillors in the last five years and that is what they will be voting for in next week’s election.”
The Conservatives had supported the minority Labour-led administration in a loose “supply and confidence” coalition since 2017.
It has meant they have held the chair of committees including the development management, governance and risk and audit committees. They also have more representation member representation on the executive- the main decision making body of the council.
It has not been a cosy alliance. The Tories have not shied away from opposing Labour, and sometimes actively supporting SNP motions. Vice-versa for the SNP - notably on road safety and the controversial Spaces for People programme.
Conservatives have pledged to press for a fairer funding deal from the Scottish Government, as well as to press for more direct UK government funding for the county.
There is also a pledge to maintain opposition to the workplace parking tax and to keep future increases in council tax to a minimum along with increasing the single person allow for council tax to 35 per cent from 25 per cent.
The Conservative group also wants council officers spending more time consulting with communities especially when it comes to additional spending programmes. There was notable unhappiness at the lack of consultation on Covid recovery related funding and support for locally based projects in recent months.
“We will push for council officers to increase the time our local communities have in responding to consultations and ensure that decisions delegated to council officers are scrutinised fully”, said Councillor Doran-Timson.
As almost every community in the county faces proposals from house builders seeking new sites for development the Conservatives are pushing for a “brownfield first” policy from the council.
Councillor Doran -Timson said: “It is unacceptable that developers have been allowed to build housing that massively reduces our greenspace and does not have the required infrastructure to support the developments. The West Lothian Conservatives will push for more new build to be on brownfield sites instead of greenspace and at the same time, ensure new green spaces will be created across West Lothian.”
