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Granville Baldwin
30 June 2009
With great sadness we report the death of former Labour councillor Granville Baldwin on 27 June.Granville represented Countess Wear and Priory wards on the City Council and, in 2002, he became Exeter's first Lord Mayor - the honour of having a "Lord Mayor" being bestowed on the City by the Queen during her Golden Jubilee. A year before, when he was made Mayor of Exeter, he revealed that he had cancer, and during his term of office he raised £24,000 for his mayoral charity - Hospiscare.
Labour Group Leader Pete Edwards said: "Granville was a true socialist of the old school. He spent all his working life helping workers in the garment industry. He will be sorely missed by everyone, not just for the great work he did while a councillor and Lord Mayor but also because he was such a wonderful character. All our sympathy goes to his family."
To support Hospiscare please click on their logo here:Mr 10 Per Cent
10 June 2009
The Conservative Party has let the cat out of the bag and
revealed that they plan to make spending cuts of 10 per cent across the
majority of government departments.Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley this week revealed what David Cameron did not want the rest of the country to hear: the Conservatives would cut public spending in the majority of government departments by 10 per cent.
"We are going to increase the resources for the NHS, we are going to increase resources for international development aid. We are going to increase resources for schools. But that does mean over three years after 2011 a 10 per cent reduction in the departmental expenditure limits for other departments."
Andrew Lansley, BBC Today Programme, 10 June 2009
There is a choice between Labour which believes we must grow our way out of recession - and the Conservatives who have revealed that they would cut the vast majority of public spending by ten per cent.
Exeter Labour Party bucks the national trend yet again! Thank you for your support
5 June 2009
All
four of Exeter's Labour County Councillors were re-elected on 4th June
2009, ensuring that the City of Exeter will continue to have an
effective voice on a County Council dominated by councillors
represented rural interests.The Tories took overall control of the County Council, unseating more than half of the ruling Liberal Democrat group who lost seats across the County, including Duryard & Pennsylvania in Exeter. The Lib Dems also lost a seat in Totnes to the Greens. Devon County Council now comprises:
| Party | Total Councillors | Exeter Councillors |
| Conservative | 41 | 2 |
| Liberal Democrat | 14 | 3 |
| Labour | 4 | 4 |
| Green | 1 | 0 |
| Independents | 2 | 0 |
Exeter's Labour County Councillors Saxon Spence (Pinhoe & Mincinglake), Richard Westlake (Newtown & Polsloe), Jill Owen (Priory & St Leonard's) and Olwen Foggin (Heavitree & Whipton Barton) thank everyone who voted Labour on 4th June. Labour Group leader Saxon Spence commented: "I am absolutely delighted and very appreciative of the support I have received from the electors. In view of the current climate it shows a high level of regard for our MP."
Contact details for your local Labour County Councillors can be found here.
Exeter’s new schools – delivered to you by your Labour councillors and Labour government funding
May 2009
It
had long been the policy of the Labour Party to change the education
system in Exeter, so that children moved up to high school at age 11
rather than 12.
A lack of funding was a
stumbling block to this reform. It took a change from a
Conservative government to a Labour government to produce the
funds.
The change to the system took place in
2005. Five new high schools were built and then several new
primary schools.
The combination of abolishing a wasted year at school for many, and the inspiration of working in
their new schools, has already seen Exeter’s pupils and teachers
produce
greatly improved examination results.
This is the result of a Labour policy,
promoted by your Labour councillors and made possible by a
Labour government.
Another reason we need a Unitary Exeter Council
by Ben Bradshaw MP
When parents who use the excellent ‘Splash’ children's play scheme emailed me to say that the Liberal Democrat run City Council was pulling the plug on funding, I knew that the problem could only be solved by working with Labour councillors.
Cllr
Saxon Spence and I put pressure on the County Council and the City
Council to make sure that this important scheme was not lost. Working
parents need to have somewhere affordable where their
children can safely play during holidays.Many of the problems around ‘Splash’ were caused because of mismanagement and confusion between our two councils - City and County. This is true of many issues in Exeter, from education to social services. This is why Exeter wants the power to run its own services.
Liberal Democrat and Conservative county councillors want to stop Exeter taking any decisions over its own affairs. They support the abolition of Exeter City Council and the creation of a massive Devon council dominated by the rural areas from where most of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors come. This would be a disaster for our city, ending 800 years of proud civic history.
The only county councillors who have fought consistently for Exeter are the four Labour members. They don't take orders from the Liberal Democrat county council leader who lives in Barnstaple or from Conservative HQ in London. They always fight for what's best for Exeter. That is why it is so important they are re-elected in June. To ensure Exeter still has a voice at County Hall.