Waltham Forest Conservatives leader Emma Best says her party’s ten-point “contract” with residents would rein in “wasteful” town-hall spending, restore free 15-minute parking and prioritise building homes for families not investors
By Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter
The Tories are running on a ten‑point plan – which they call a “contract” with residents – largely focused on cutting “wasteful” spending in the town hall and restoring the free 15 minutes of parking in the borough.
They say its removal last year harmed local businesses as shoppers are unwilling to pay just to nip to the shops. The party also wants to bring back weekly black bin collections, stop low‑traffic neighbourhood projects in favour of fixing roads and pavements, “protect our libraries”, and invest in mobile CCTV cameras for every ward to fight antisocial behaviour and fly‑tipping.
Councillor Emma Best is the leader of the Waltham Forest Conservatives and the council’s current leader of the opposition.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service a Conservative council would also freeze council tax to “keep more money in [residents’] pocket”.
Council tax has risen by the maximum of 4.99% each year, though the council says it is facing a “severe” financial crisis as a result of chronic underfunding over the past 15 years.
The crisis has been exemplified by the town hall borrowing £19million from the government to balance its budget this year, which the Labour leadership says would prevent any further debts mounting. The Tories have characterised this as using the “taxpayers’ credit card” and Cllr Best has warned councillors about “shouldering massive debts” as a result.
Cllr Best says the Tories would tackle these rising costs by cutting spending on contracted consultants and better managing projects that have “overflowed” such as the new Soho Theatre, which ended up costing £30m – around £11m over budget.
There are more than 120 members of staff at the council being paid six‑figure salaries, she says, and the Tories would look to reduce these positions and slim down the number of civil servants in a further effort to rein in spending.
The north of the borough – mainly Chingford – has long been a Tory stronghold and she says this is still the case, despite the rise of Reform as a right‑wing alternative. She agreed it will not be a “two‑horse race,” adding: “One of the things coming through in Chingford is support for the independents from former Labour voters.
“The battle in the borough between Labour and Greens will be very interesting. There was a poll that suggested Labour could not return a single seat and Greens would win them all – which I don’t think will happen at all – but it’s interesting that any model could even show that.
“Whereas other parties are coming into play in Waltham Forest, I think in Chingford it remains a contest between us and Labour.”
She added: “Who knows what’s going to happen? Some polls show that we could win Highams Park because the votes could end up being split five ways.”
Though the Conservatives are not currently anticipating a total victory in the borough, Cllr Best says the results could strengthen their position as the official opposition in Waltham Forest.
“We feel quite strongly, for the first time in a long, long time in this borough, that we could hold any power,” she said. “We could see the Greens and Labour unable to form an overall majority. That’s why we really need a strong block of Conservatives so that, if the time does come, we can make our demands clear.
“And the demands will be: ‘Hands off Chingford’ and give us what we want. That is free parking, an equal share of policing, and new‑builds for families to live in, not for investors [to buy].”
Read the Conservatives’ ten point plan here
Read our interviews with each party standing in the election and find out their manifesto by reading our May issue – find out where to pick up a copy here
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