While I’m obviously disappointed not to have been elected, I’m delighted for my five Labour colleagues who are now Central Bedfordshire Councillors. After years of Tory domination, the council has moved to ‘No Overall Control’ and we have two Labour Councillors (Stotfold and Arlesey and Fairfield) in what will be the new Parliamentary constituency of Hitchin, which bodes well for the future. Thank you to those from across the political spectrum who have sent private messages of support, it means a lot.
I’m also super proud of our campaign team in Biggleswade who worked so hard over the last few weeks. We were definitely noticed across the town, fell short by just 18 votes in Biggleswade East and finished ahead of the Tories in Biggleswade West. Politics is a serious business and we worked very hard, but we also had a lot of fun during the campaign and we had a happy team. Thank you to all those who helped out, you were amazing.
The UK faces huge challenges ahead. Whatever your views on Brexit, it has polarised our society and 13 years of Tory austerity has resulted in our NHS and public services being on their knees. Inequality is deeply entrenched in our society and we have a government that prefers to stoke up hate and division rather than fix the deep-seated problems we face. I believe we enrich our communities when we look after everyone within it. People in ‘small boats’ didn’t trash our NHS and homeless people didn’t wreck our public services.
I have now stood in two General Elections and two local elections and have yet to be elected. One day it would be nice to write one of these from a winning perspective! However, my drive for social justice remains undimmed and my life experiences have provided me with the determination to persevere. Watch this space.
In the immediate future, next week I’ll be attending a walkaround of the new Transport interchange in Biggleswade – and yes we do need more buses! The following week I will be meeting with Network Rail and others regarding step-free access at the train station and I’ll be posting an update about the latest on my campaign for a fair deal for prepayment meter households which resulted in the issue being raised in Parliament recently.
I totally understand why people are disillusioned with politics. However, politics has the potential to change our lives and our communities for the better. It is politics that created our NHS. One day I hope to be a part of that change to a fairer more equal society. But first I’m going to have a long sleep!
Julian Vaughan
7th May 2023
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