Fabulous day with Cllr Paul Swaddle at West End Live. Join us again from 12 noon on Sunday - free, no tickets needed - as Westminster champions the stars of the West End! 🎭
Great to speak to BBC London News ahead of West End LIVE, a fantastic free music weekend showcasing an industry supporting 80,000 jobs and boosting tourism, with 70,000 expected.
A warm weekend ahead & rip-off pedicab riders will be targeting tourists in the West End. However, our cabinet member for enforcement, Cllr Caroline Sargent, is targeting them as she did on this enforcement operation with @CityWestminster officers & @metpoliceuk#SafeStreets
This is a significant result, and I want to start by congratulating @DLumsden_MSP on becoming the new Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South and the newest Conservative MP!
Makerfield was about one man’s job.
Aberdeen South was about thousands of jobs in oil and gas across our country and the future of an entire city.
Yesterday, the people of Aberdeen sent a message on behalf of the whole country. Energy security is national security. They know it is common sense to use our own oil and gas rather than importing it from overseas. They know it is madness to make ourselves poorer, weaker and more dependent at a time when even the government’s own intelligence says we are under threat. The first duty of any government is to keep its people safe. The Conservative Party will always put Britain’s security first.
What makes this result particularly significant is that many people who voted Conservative today have never voted Conservative before. I want to thank every one of them.
Many will have voted for us because they care deeply about Aberdeen and its future. Many will have voted for us because they are sick of the SNP’s shenanigans. Others because they are worried about what Labour’s policies mean for their jobs and livelihoods. Many voted for us because they wanted a strong local champion.
Douglas is that champion. He has lived in Aberdeen all his life. He spent two decades working in the oil and gas industry. He knows this city, he knows its people, and throughout this campaign he brought energy, optimism and a genuine belief in Aberdeen’s future. Wherever he went, he had a smile on his face and a positive message about what this great city can achieve.
The Conservative Party is working to earn the trust of the country again. I am grateful and humbled that Aberdeen looked at the choice before them and decided that the Conservative Party was the party that would fight for families, workers and business.
Thank you, Aberdeen. I will never stop fighting for you. Douglas will never stop fighting for you.
The Conservative Party will keep fighting for common sense, a stronger economy and a stronger country.
🚨 BREAKING: The Tories have won the Aberdeen South by-election from the SNP
🔵 CON: 14,308 (+3,008)
🟡 SNP: 8,258 (-6,955)
➡️ REF: 2,478 (-721)
🔴 LAB: 1,550 (-9,905)
🟢 GRN: 974 (-635)
🔶 LD: 1,270 (-1,651)
Changes w/ 2024
Cllr Ben Sewell asked Cllr @PaulEFishr about the Council's new review of Major Contracts. Cllr Fisher said that we are determined to learn to the lessons of Geoffrey Osborne Limited but that this goes further than that. We recognise the need to learn the lessons from the past. Labour failed to learn those lessons. 11/
Great question from @ElliotKeck on all the cuts to bus routes that the Labour @MayorofLondon’s planned Oxford Street pedestrianisation will entail. @VoteTimBarnes explains that these plans mean the 98, 139, 390 bus routes as well as the 98, 207, 139 and 390 night routes will be moved to Wigmore Street. 7/
Carelessly discarded dockless bikes drive residents & businesses crazy. As well as enforcing against offenders, we've just struck a deal with Lime to share data on where the bikes are - all part of our effort to keep the City cycling and pavements clear.
https://t.co/iUkqhT1fo4
Our trading standards teams ensure shoppers get what they pay for & are protected from retail rip-offs. Our councillor for enforcement, Caroline Sargent, went to our depot to see the results of just one raid last month - with brand names like Chanel and Louis Vuitton pirated
Carelessly discarded dockless bikes drive residents & businesses crazy. As @RachaelBurford reports in @standardnews, we have just struck a pioneering deal with @limebike to share data on where the bikes are - all part our effort to keep pavements clear
https://t.co/r2yY8GhyII
I was delighted to support the World Environment Day event, organised by the @ciacuk and hosted in the @LM_Westminster's parlour.
It was inspiring to hear the voices of the young people, who have demonstrated a profound understanding of the challenges posed by climate change. There were also impressive creations on display, upcycled from unwanted items to give them a new lease of life. Lastly, we were entertained by young dancers, musicians and singers, who channelled the theme of environmental protection through their performances.
The event served as a potent reminder that while the challenges facing our planet are global, the solutions begin locally - in our neighbourhoods, community events, and in the minds of our young people.
🚨 Sadiq Khan's Consultation Stitch-Up
Permanent changes to Oxford Street were buried in a consultation advertised the day after the election.
Businesses and residents never stood a chance.
No answers on traffic, buses, or disabled access. No warning. No accountability.
Westminster Labour? Siding with the Mayor, not you.
We are demanding TfL and the Mayor scrap this process and start again properly.
Read our full statement: https://t.co/Kz7zLJZ8Sc
Hospitality is Britain's 3rd biggest employer with 3.5 million jobs. Tourist numbers are up but what they actually spend, in real terms, keeps going down. London is the epicenter of both.
Yet we charge 20% VAT on hospitality - one of the highest in Europe. France charges 10%. Germany? 7% (EU average is 12.8%)
More tax on tourism is bad policy. It is bad for business, bad for jobs, and bad for young people's futures.
A strong week for enforcement in Westminster as we confiscated £5,000 worth of goods including fake Beatles signs, vapes & designer labels while Cllr Caroline Sargent joined @CityWestminster officers & @metpoliceuk to pull unsafe/ rip-off pedicabs off the road #Safestreets
Ha ha....not sure if you remember but I gave a lengthy speech on this very topic at the last meeting. We also published a comprehensive manifesto and 100 day plan here: https://t.co/ugZpJ8K7z8
And the people of Westminster backed us and a little over a month ago we comprehensively won the election. In the Autumn we will be reporting back on progress. But for now, unlike Labours regular virtue signalling motions of the past 4 years, we won't be taking student Union style motions to Council meetings. We will be getting on sorting out the financial mess @CityWestminster.
Sadiq Khan has long said that local leaders know best how to run their authorities - so will he stick by this principle, or seek to overrule councils he disagrees with like Enfield, asks @alexgeorgiou