Despite everything that has gone on over the past year, we are having County Council elections in Surrey on 6th May.

So this has given a new boy on the block  Toby, a Digital Assessment Officer at the University of Surrey, an opportunity to throw his hat into the ring for the Godalming North seat on behalf of the Labour Party.

Here’s Toby Westcott-White’s message:

I’m proud to be running as the Labour candidate in Godalming North, which encompasses Godalming town centre, Farncombe, Binscombe and Charterhouse.

I moved to the Godalming town centre almost four years ago just after graduating from university. I grew up in Haslemere and currently work in Guildford and tend to spend most of my free time exploring our wonderful countryside on foot and on a bicycle.

Why am I running for Surrey County Council?

I do not believe the people of Godalming are getting the investment they deserve from the Conservative-dominated council.

The Tories have controlled the County Council for nearly all my life and they have been ruthless in their cuts to our public services. We can clearly see that roads are poorly maintained, cycle paths are rare and our fire services, which keep us all safe, are being cut.
We need a county that has excellent transport links, world-standard education and outstanding public services – from which we all benefit. 

If elected, I will be a radical voice to stand up for genuine investment in our public services.

This May, you can send a message that Surrey can and should be better. Let’s send this message by voting Labour.

Toby Westcott-White
Labour Party Candidate for Godalming North 

County elections

The County Council elections are on May 6, and I’d urge you to get a postal vote if you haven’t already. See here for how to do it: https://www.waverley.gov.uk/Services/Council-information/Registering-to-vote-and-elections/Absent-voting-postal-or-proxy.

But of course, you’re free to vote in person if you’d prefer it!

A further message from Waverley’s Labour Councillor and former Labour MP Nick Palmer.

Surrey is dominated by the Conservatives, who hold 61 of the 81 seats. But – and here I’m being party political, of course – Labour is putting up a serious challenge this time, with candidates in every division and an impressive range of energetic young talent to take on the tired and complacent Council leadership.

I’d urge you to vote for whichever party and candidates actually impress you most when you compare their literature. Labour’s Godalming candidates are Toby Westcott-White in the North and Zahoor Zahida in the South.

Voting Labour also sends a signal to the Government not to be too complacent – when even their Surrey bastion starts to swing, they WILL take notice.

The LibDems always use each election to ask for tactical votes from Labour voters “just this once” and then at the next election cynically use that as an argument to do it again (“see how weak Labour was last time, so vote for us”). 

Labour is in practice the only credible alternative to the Conservatives nationally – nobody really thinks that Ed Davey might be the next Prime Minister, but Keir Starmer might well be.

It’s important to show that Britain isn’t as divided as people say and Surrey voters are interested in a credible alternative as well. I hope I contribute usefully to local politics – if you vote Labour, you’re voting for a fresh wind at the County level too!