IN DEPTH: A new breed of political party, made up of local residents, is threatening to derail large-scale residential development plans across England.
Highly organised groups of social media-savvy local residents are becoming so disgruntled with how their elected representatives are handling the future development of their districts that they are registering as political parties to replace them.
If these new parties succeed in taking seats away from the traditional ones at the many local council elections that coincide with the general election, they could seriously upset the political make-up of some areas.
Developers beware – these groups share a deep-seated fury towards how their local authorities have set out to deliver thousands of new homes in their backyards.
“We tried to work with the district council,” said would-be councillor Dan Starr, a resident of north Essex market town Saffron Walden and founder of political party Residents for Uttlesford. “We were concerned about some of the proposals in the draft local plan.
“There were more than 2,000 individual letters of opposition but the council did not listen. The only solution was to try to become the council.”
Click here to read our indepth analysis of the people’s political revolution.
