Evingar Conservative candidate - Sam Carr
Sam Carr, the Conservative councillor hoping to retain his Evingar seat, has said the alternative to Tory rule would be a “ramshackle coalition of chaos”.
Mr Carr, 27, was elected for the first time in last year’s all out borough council elections, and is up for re-election having secured the third highest number of votes.
He said he felt “very strongly” that the Conservatives, which currently holds an overall majority on the council, were the “strongest voice for this part of the world”.
He said: “The alternative to the Conservatives continuing in Basingstoke is a sort of ramshackle, coalition of chaos between the Labour party, the Basingstoke and Deane Independents (BDI), and the Liberal Democrats.
“When you get that sort of coalition you end up with chaotic management, unpredictable decisions and a lack of clear democratic accountability.”
The council is currently made up of 33 Conservatives, 10 Labour, five Lib Dem, five BDI and one independent.
Mr Carr, an account manager at a public relations firm and a trustee at Whitchurch Silk Mill, said planning was the issue that had come up most on the doorstep.
He continued: “We work very hard to maintain well-managed, strong finances with appropriate investment, such that about half of our incomes comes from property and other sources, which enables us to keep council tax quite low by comparison to most districts in the county and the wider region.
“That’s a considerable benefit for local residents.
“Equally, because of the way we’re managing finances, we’re able to deliver good, strong services.”
He said he saw himself as a “strong voice” during the Local Plan Update for the surrounding area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB), and that the council was “pushing back strongly” on the allocated housing number from central Government.
Mr Carr, who has recently got into sky diving and is keen to go travelling in Italy this year, anticipated national issues such as the cost of living crisis could impact voting, but said that “Partygate” hadn’t been mentioned on the doorstep.
For Liberal Democrat candidate Pauleen Malone, click here
For Hampshire Independents candidate Phil Heath, click here
The election will take place on May 5.