Thursday 9th April 2015, Uttlesford: Residents-for-Uttlesford (R4U), the local advocacy group for towns and villages, has announced that it will be standing 30 candidates in 17 district wards in the May 7th elections. R4U has also selected Cllr Heather Asker as its Saffron Walden Constituency MP candidate to be the Uttlesford residents’ “envoy to parliament”.
Cllr John Lodge (R4U Chairman)
Heather Asker (R4U MP Candidate)Residents for Uttlesford has gained unprecedented momentum for its grass-roots localism agenda since it was formed in 2014. It has a county councillor, 4 district councillors and gained district council candidates from all the major parties. It is now seeking to gain control of Uttlesford District Council on behalf of residents in May, and its candidates are contesting the majority of Uttlesford District wards.
About Residents for Uttlesford
Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) is the local independent party of north-west Essex towns and villages. Formed in 2014 by a number of residents’ groups, the party believes that on local issues residents should decide, not Westminster parties.
R4U is the fastest growing local political movement in its district. In 2015 it became the second party at Uttlesford District Council (UDC). In 2017 it achieved a further by-election gain with 60% of the vote. In the May 2019 Local Elections R4U gained majority control of UDC winning two-thirds of the seats. The result delivered the biggest loss of seats by any UK Conservative controlled council in the UK in those elections.
R4U’s success has been based on the desire to give local people a voice and implement long range strategic and sustainable plans for their area.
R4U is also the majority party at Saffron Walden Town Council, where under its stewardship the council has rebuilt finances, invested in community assets, and won multiple awards. It is a minority party on Great Dunmow Town Council.
Residents for Uttlesford can be found on the web at www.residents4u.org.