The 2014 local elections are now well and truly underway as Weymouth & Portland Borough Council have announced the runners and riders for the 12 wards that are up for election this year. So far, so normal. Yet for those of us who are political nerds, the slate in...
Local Tory MP Richard Drax voted this week against a freeze on energy bills for over 40,000 households in South Dorset. Thousands of households across the area were denied an energy bill freeze following a vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday night. Conservatives and their Liberal...
Local people will go to the polls on 22 May 2014 to elect a third of Weymouth and Portland borough councillors. The borough council has produced a leaflet explaining who can stand for election, the nomination process and what councillors do. It also has practical information on the...
Even by Tory standards, the 2014 budget was an opportunity missed. Just hours after fellow Tories had finished back-slapping George Osborne, commentators were calling his budget for what it was: a desperate attempt to woo back the demographics that the pollsters are predicting have been abandoning the Tories for...
Be careful what you wish for, as my nan used to say. Now, I know that the comments section under almost any story on any news media tends to be the playground of the trolls, the tormented and the downright potty, but whenever public services are mentioned in *one*...
Last night Lib Dem HQ finally suspended Councillor Ryan Hope, the Lib Dem councillor for Westham North on Weymouth & Portland Borough Council. Councillor Hope is facing several serious charges for sexual offences including one count of raping a child, one count of rape, one of sexual assault of a...
Local authorities are facing an unprecedented attack on their ability to deliver local services. Weymouth & Portland Borough Council has lost over £2.1 million, Purbeck District Council £725,000, and Dorset County Council has lost an eye-watering £66.5 million worth of funding. So far, many have not noticed the cuts....
West and South Dorset Green Party has chosen its candidates for the next general election for the South Dorset and West Dorset constituencies. They are Jane Burnet (South Dorset) and Peter Barton (West Dorset). Jane Burnet has lived locally for over thirty years, was a lecturer at Weymouth College...
An ambitious three year programme to review district and borough council services across West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland will be put before councillors next week. West Dorset District Counciland Weymouth & Portland Borough Council have already saved around £3million a year through their ground-breaking shared services partnership. It sees...
Here are my 10 predictions for 2014 in South Dorset… More people will be using food banks and going cold as the cost of living crisis continues to bite. Whatever is said about the economic recovery, inflation – particularly housing costs and energy bills - still outstrips...
