Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey backs party in Buckinghamshire ahead of local elections

On Tuesday, the party’s leader Ed Davey visited Chesham and Amersham, the constituency of Lib Dem MP Sarah Green.

Speaking on the bank of the River Chess, he told the LDRS: “If you vote for a Liberal Democrat councillor, you get a local champion who will really speak up for you and fight for your community.”

The politician was joined by Ms Green, who said she was ‘really optimistic’ about the local elections and mentioned councillors who had defected to the Lib Dems such as former Tory Councillor Jonathan Waters in Penn Wood & Old Amersham ward.

However, five Lib Dem Bucks councillors quit the party in February, and the council has never been controlled by anyone but the Conservatives.

But despite this, Ms Green pointed to her own 2021 by-election win as evidence the Tories’ control of the county might be slipping.

The Lib Dem comfortably held her seat at last year’s general election, which also saw Bucks Labour MPs Emma Reynolds and Laura Kyrke-Smith oust their Conservative predecessors

She told the LDRS: “We are getting a really positive response on the doorstep and so the two combined make me optimistic that we will gain seats.”

On May 1, Bucks voters will head to the polls to elect 97 councillors – down from the current 147 members.

Ahead of the vote, Ms Green said the NHS, access to GP surgeries and the cost-of-living crisis were some of the main issues on voters’ minds – despite some of these being national issues.

She also mentioned flooding in the Chalfonts last year, saying residents in the villages had had a ‘torrid time’.

The MP added: “The council can do things on flooding. They are the responsible agency for flooding, and I am afraid to say that they have been sleeping at the wheel when it comes to flooding around here.”

Asked about the issues facing Buckinghamshire residents and Bucks Council, Mr Davey spoke about Ms Green’s by-election win.

He said: “That was the last time I spent a long time in the county. It was an amazing result beating the Conservatives then.”

The Lib Dem leader said potholes had come up ‘a huge amount’ on the doorstep during the by-election campaign, claiming the Tory-run council had the ‘worst record in the country’.

He added: “People would say they knew when they crossed the county border. They could tell because the Conservatives had done such a bad job maintaining the roads.”

However, Conservative Bucks Council leader Martin Tett disputed Mr Davey’s claims about the roads, saying that potholes are a ‘national problem’.

He told the LDRS: “I speak with council leaders in Lib Dem areas such as Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire whose residents say exactly the same thing.

“By contrast, in Bucks this Conservative council is investing a record £120m in repairing and resurfacing our roads.

“It’s little wonder that Ed Davey tries to distract attention from the Lib Dems abysmal local record with many Lib Dem councils bankrupt, such as neighbouring Windsor and Maidenhead, who have been asking for a 25% Council Tax increase.”

Mr Davey also discussed adult social care, a service that is one of the main budgetary pressures on Bucks Council and on others across the country.

He said: “The Conservatives have had a very bad record on that over the years and it is something that Liberal Democrats are passionate about.”

The Lib Dem leader was also asked how he would address the crisis in local government finances across England, which in some cases had led authorities to declare effective bankruptcy, such as in neighbouring Slough.

He answered that social care needed investment to help free up beds in the NHS and discharge people more quickly who ‘don’t need’ hospital care, claiming this would reduce waiting lists.

Mr Davey said: “The Conservatives have failed to tackle it. There was a moment when Boris Johnson said he was going to and then of course he failed.

“We had hoped Labour would do something, but they have now created this commission that is not going to deliver its report for three years.”