The Conservative Party in Salford is now under new leadership and they say they plan to bring pride back to the city. Councillor Robin Garrido has taken over from Les Turner and has urged that the Tories will become fierce defenders of the greenbelt and bring more green space back to Salford.
After an election where Labour retained a huge majority but lost three seats, one to the Conservatives in Worsley and two others to the Liberal Democrats in Quays and Ordsall, the blue party have started afresh and are keen to play their part as better opposition. Even though they are dwarfed when it comes to elected members by Labour, 49 to their eight, they believe they have what it takes to challenge the dominant party on key issues.
“I think we can box above our weight,” Coun Garrido said. “We are the largest opposition party but we are small in numbers. But I still think we can do it.”
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The new leader, who has recently received an award for his 20 years service to the council, was first elected in 1975 after a campaign focusing on the greenbelt. This is still one of his key priorities but believes he has a top team behind him who can help on that as well as other issues in the city.
The party has stated they want to discuss less national politics and more local issues - bringing back pride.
They will appoint their own portfolio holders to act as a shadow cabinet that we see in the House of Commons. Coun Bob Clarke will be his deputy leader.
“Our motto is to ‘bring pride back to our city’ and that is first and foremost what we intend to do,” Coun Garrido continued. “I have a long record of protecting the greenbelt.
“That is what we want to do. The other thing we want to tackle is the housing issue.
“We believe that there is more than enough room for the housing space we require. The council needs to be directing planning towards building more housing stock.
“For someone wanting to start a family they want to be able to grow within a house and be able to add to it. Something you cannot do with a flat or apartment.
“Another part of bringing pride back to Salford is bringing back more green space. This would have a massive effect on people, especially those without access to their own gardens.”
The Conservatives believe that they can be a voice for the people of Salford and fight for the smaller hyperlocal issues such as bin collections and street cleaning as well as the bigger ones like the Clean Air Zone and housing development.
