Parachuted in political guns-for-hire? No thank you! We want a local resident to represent us. #VoteLocal

I am proud to have been elected as a Saffron Walden Town & Uttlesford District Councillor for the last three elections and honoured to represent Saffron Walden as Mayor 2015/16. I am especially proud of the work we’ve done as a Residents for Uttlesford team in Saffron Walden to rebuild the town’s finances and restore the crumbling community assets that were neglected by previous administrations.

Now I stand as the Residents for Uttlesford candidate for the Essex County Council Saffron Walden division. That includes the Chesterfords and villages between and to the west of Walden.  If elected I will work hard for everyone in the division, village and town.

I truly believe that the public will vote for whom they believe and trust, and someone who does not make unreal and false claims; someone who is truly passionate about where they live, and has a track record of delivering things that are needed. And it has been made clear to me that people actually want someone who lives in the place they want to represent, unlike more than half of the ‘guns for hire’ candidates from the national parties in this election. It is important to note that the candidate that the Conservative party wants to represent the Saffron Walden division doesn’t live in the division, and neither did he live in the Newport ward when he unsuccessfully tried to get elected there 2 years ago. National parties don’t get it – when will they learn that voters like local residents to represent them and not politicians who have been parachuted in.

People actually also like having a local voice that is free of national politics. In a few short years R4U has grown to be the second party at Uttlesford District Council, with more than twice the number of councillors as the Lib Dems. We are the first party on Saffron Walden Town Council and have councillors at all local levels from Dunmow to Walden. The recent landslide result in the Henham and Elsenham district by-election gives a strong indication of that increasing trust. R4U was chosen by 60% of voters. More than all the rest combined.

A lot has been published in the letters’ pages in the local papers to try to slur the excellent hard work and diligence of existing councillors, many of who lead ordinary lives, raising families, working day jobs and spending much of their own time voluntarily fighting on behalf of their communities in their own wards.

I have refused to get in to  tit for tat time wasting fuelled by others, preferring to spend my time and energy doing what is expected of an elected councillor, working for the residents of my ward.

I know you may have voting fatigue, but please come out and vote on May 4th. Don’t get distracted by the national parties talking about MPs and various forms of Brexit. None of those things have anything to do with Essex County Council. The most important reason to vote locally is that you have a direct say in what happens to your council tax.

Cllr Heather Asker
Residents for Uttlesford
Candidate for Essex County Council