What is REPRESENT?

REPRESENT is a poem for Parliament, created by people from across the UK for 2012, and we need you to take part.  It is a partnership project between the Houses of Parliament, leading spoken word organisation Apples and Snakes and poet and performer Inua Ellams.

We want to hear from you about what it means to live in the UK in 2012 and how you make your voice heard.

Using your responses from across the country Inua Ellams will create a single poem, to be shown as a film in the iconic space of Westminster Hall as part of Arts in Parliament between 1 and 6 August 2012.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Ian Lyons made this contribution:

Representation means being pro-active: seeking out problems, by listening to people, and finding solutions, using sound judgement. Speaking out for those who are suffering. Doing this for everyone, even when they disagree with your own opinion, and especially when they find it difficult to make their own voice heard.

A real representative strives to make a difference to their community, and improve the lives of the people that live there, having the courage to take real action. They should hold impeccable values and standards, leading by example, including a fierce loyalty to the people they represent, and total professionalism.

Representation means self-less commitment and respectful service.

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO REPRESENT? WHY NOT GET IN TOUCH AND JOIN THE LIB DEM TEAM?

BAILDON ELECTION RESULTS 2012

So very close! – Thank you.

Change in voting behaviour since the last election!!!!!

Election Results 2012

Which do you want first: the good news? or the bad news?

The bad news is that we have no Liberal Democrat Councillor to represent Baildon on Bradford Council, and this situation may last for another 2 years. The wisdom of the voting crowd has decided, for the third time in a row, that they would prefer to have a Conservative. This will affect the influence we will have over decisions that are made in our community, but it will not reduce the commitment we have to improving community life for everyone that lives in Baildon.

However, the good news is that momentum is on our side, as you can see from the chart above. We gained a whopping 68 percent increase in voters from last year, when every other party in Baildon that stood in 2011 has taken dramatic losses, with the Conservatives taking the biggest hit. We have also gained dozens of new friends, and members, who remain committed to securing a victory next time around.

Ian Lyons, our candidate this year, said:

I am very grateful to everyone who voted for us this year, they made the right choice. I love this community, and I am very proud to live here. I went to bed in the early hours of Friday morning, sore and tired, knowing that I had done everything I could to win, for the people that believed in me. I am extremely proud of the hard work that the Baildon Focus Team have done over the last six months to help me achieve this result. If I have the opportunity to represent Baildon in the future, it would be one of the proudest moments of my life, and I won’t give up trying.

If you would like to join the Liberal Democrats, or help us win in future. Please get in touch.

Our Liberal Democrat Candidate Ian Lyons recently featured in a documentary called ‘iProtest’ here is a preview of the footage, enjoy!

The latest Baildon Focus newsletter is available for download now:

Baildon Focus – April – Page 1

Baildon Focus – April – Page 2

Our Vote NO campaign leaflet – Click to Enlarge

Bradford Mayoral Referendum – May 3rd

Alongside the City Council elections on May 3rd this year there will be a referendum to decide if Bradford should have an elected Mayor. This should not be confused with a Ceremonial Civic Lord Mayor, who wears a Lord Mayors chain and civic regalia. This post will still exist in addition to an elected Mayor with executive powers. The new elected Mayor might better be described as a President of Bradford, with a cabinet team, reducing the remainder of our Councillors to nothing more than a large scrutiny committee.

Retiring Liberal Democrat Councillor John Cole said in a letter to the Telegraph and Argus:

SIR – Would Bradford benefit by having an elected mayor? Personally, I do not think so.

Liberals generally are keen to advance the idea of “participatory democracy”, meaning that we have “active citizens” who take an interest in their communities.

Ideal political systems push decision-making down to the lowest possible level so that local communities, possibly in the form of a parish council, can decide for themselves.

This might be described as “bottom-up” politics and is supported by the localism agenda, which seeks to engage residents more than just at election time.

The position of an elected mayor would concentrate power at the top. It is a “top-down” system which invites the general public to vote once every four years and thereafter to “leave it to the top man (or woman)” . It is a charter for people to opt out rather than in.

I realise that many people currently feel turned off by politics, and I can understand why. But we must not give up on the ideal of the active citizen and participatory democracy.

In the referendum I will be voting against an elected mayor.

Michael Meadow croft, a Leeds City Councillor for fifteen years, a West Yorkshire Met County Councillor for six years and the Liberal MP for Leeds West from 1981 to 1987, recently wrote this piece for the The Guardian Newspaper:

RATTLING CHAMBERLAIN’S GHOST

Michael Meadowcroft

Was it a keen sense of irony or a lack of awareness of local history that took Michael Heseltine and, local Government Minister, Greg Clark to Birmingham on the first step of their campaign for elected mayors? Birmingham – the city of Joe Chamberlain, probably the greatest municipal innovator of the Victorian era, who achieved all his reforms under the present structure of local government.

Chamberlain was elected as Mayor of Birmingham in 1873, just three years after first being elected as a Councillor. He set in train the formation of a municipal gas undertaking, got the council to take over the water company, redeveloped the city centre, began slum clearance and, via the School Board, ensured secular education in the board schools. All this was accomplished during three successive annual terms as Mayor under the same system we have today.

In Leeds the larger than life Charles Wilson, who ran the Council for twenty years, and who was happy to claim “I am Leeds,” would have fallen about with laughter at the idea that he could only do what he did for the City if he had been an elected Mayor. Similarly, the Rev Charles Jenkinson’s name became a byword for slum clearance and a massive house building programme in the City – included the celebrated Quarry Hill flats with 938 apartments of varying sizes. He achieved this in three brief years as housing committee chair without even being leader of the Council.

The London example is oft quoted with the purported benefits of being able to vote directly for Ken Livingstone or Boris Johnson. But does anyone suggest that Ken Livingstone was any less powerful when he was the “mere” leader of the Greater London Council? Indeed, so effective was he that Mrs Thatcher felt the urgent need to abolish the whole Council!

Of course, if the Conservatives are to extol the example of London then they should also explain that there is also a Greater London Authority elected at the same time as the Mayor, deliberately providing the necessary “legislature” as a counterbalance to an elected “executive.” This is very different to imposing an elected Mayor on the present structure.

Frankly, elected mayors are a sleight of hand designed to hide the steady erosion of local government powers that has happened over the past sixty years. It is the lack of powers that inhibits many good candidates from coming forward. And why should anyone run for election as a Councillor with no chance of exercising any executive office? In Leeds housing problems were always seventy per cent of my caseload but the City Council no longer runs the housing service. It is a nonsense.

If electors in northern cities need one word to put them off voting for elected Mayors, then let’s try “Doncaster”. The existence of the elected office there has been a disaster, with dreadful relationships with chief officers, huge problems in appointing a cabinet and permanent strife with many elected Councillors. The example is not one to follow.

On May 3rd vote NO to wasting millions of pounds.

The latest Baildon Focus newsletter is available for download now:

April Focus Page 1

April Focus Page 2

Tim Farron MP, Ian Lyons and David Ward MP

LOCAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN – UPDATE

Tim Farron MP (Liberal Democrat President) visited Bradford today to launch the local election campaign, and discuss important local and national issues with Councillors, Candidates and David Ward, our MP for Bradford East.

Ian Lyons, the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Baildon, was particularly interested in discussing the local economy, and the strategy for bringing greater prosperity and jobs to the district. As a former soldier, Ian was also interested in contributing to the debate on Afghanistan, and our exit strategy.

Ian Lyons said:

It was great to meet Tim Farron MP today, and listen to his advice. Tim has been a Liberal Democrat since he was sixteen years old, and an MP since 2005. He has a huge amount of experience, is a total professional, and above all, like most Liberal Democrats, he cares.

I was particularly impressed with the way Tim listened to our ideas and suggestions. The Liberal Democrats are the only truly democratic party, policy is decided by our members, and I really felt what we said was taken into account. It was a very productive session.

Q&A WITH THE DEPUTY PM

This evening Ian also had a question and answers session with Nick Clegg MP (Deputy Prime Minister), where he was able to field questions suggested by residents in Baildon.

Ian Lyons asked:

My City of Bradford has experienced a 95% increase in long-term unemployment since February 2011, and youth unemployment is at 11.4% compared to 8.5% nationally. Some wards are at 25% unemployment. We desperately need jobs here in the ‘new’ economy, and we have done for some time. We were losing employment on a massive scale from the manufacturing sector, even in the good years. What can I and our Party, Locally and Nationally, do to create real jobs here that bring new capital back into my City, and benefit the national economy as a whole? What are you and the Coalition already doing to help us?

Nick Clegg said:

Well Ian, that is the Million Dollar question!

Nick Clegg went on to discuss the £1bn youth unemployment scheme, the Green Investment Bank, and even mentioned our ‘hole in the ground’ in the City Centre.

Incidentally, the Liberal Democrat (Local Election) Manifesto was released today, which includes a campaign for the Bradford Enterprise Zone, support for small and medium businesses to help them expand, an action plan for revitalising the manufacturing industry, guaranteed apprenticeships for young people not in education, employment or training, a ‘get on or get out’ policy for the Westfield site, local regeneration schemes, incentives for small City centre businesses, and many many more.

If you would like a copy of the full manifesto watch this space for it to be posted shortly.

THE DELLYMPIC GAMES 19TH MAY – 16TH JUNE

The Ferniehurst Dell Improvement Partnership (FDIP) has been awarded money to organise activity days this Summer. The aim of the activity days are to encourage use and enjoyment of the Ferniehurst Dell, and to learn more about the history of the Dell, whilst developing new skills. The aim is to involve as many people as possible from a diverse demographic.

Ian Lyons, the Liberal Democrat Candidate, who is the Event Co-Ordinator said:

The Dellympic Games is an opportunity for bringing people together, sharing our environment, and building relationships in the spirit of improving our community assets. I grew up playing in Ferniehurst Dell, and it was heartbreaking to see it had declined over the years that I spent away in the forces. I really hope this event will be a springboard for some major improvements that we have planned over the next few years, and encourage more people to get involved in the FDIP.

If you would like to find out more information, and take part in the Dellympic Games, please click here.

Ian Lyons delivering the safety briefing for the Protest

Our Protest March Took to the Streets on Saturday 31st March as Planned

Ian Lyons, the Liberal Democrat Candidate, who organised and led the protest on Saturday said:

I am really pleased that so many people came along to show their support for our cause, from all walks of life and political persuasions. It was essential that we made our point safely, effectively, and within the law. Everything went according to plan, and nothing was left to chance. It was a lot of hard work to organise, but it was well worth it. This has raised the profile of our campaign, and really got people talking down at City Hall. We have put Buck Lane, and Baildon’s green field sites back on the agenda.

Protesters heading towards Shipley Town Hall from Buck Lane

Ian Lyons and the protesters on Shipley Town Hall steps

To find out more about why we were protesting click here

To read the press article on this click here.

SAVE OUR GREEN FIELD SITES!!!!

Ian Lyons and the documentary film crew.

Documentary Film Crew Visits Baildon

A documentary film crew visited Baildon today to gather footage for their latest project called ’iprotest’, which aims to capture the lives of people involved in organising protests.

Ian Lyons, the Liberal Democrat Candidate, who features in the film, said:

I was pleased to help the film crew with their project because it will help us to raise awareness of the concerns that Baildon residents have over the proposed Buck Lane development. This is a very exciting project, and I can not wait to see the final result. I hope that it will offer inspiration to other people that are considering getting involved with a community project or campaign.

The film crew will be returning to Baildon on Saturday 31st March to film our protest march from Buck Lane to Shipley Town Hall.

Click here for more details.