Activist Hanley chosen to fight by-election
SOUTHPORT Labour has announced that the party’s candidate for the Dukes Ward by-election in Southport is Frank Hanley, a former senior local government officer and community relations expert.
He will contest the seat, which covers parts of Southport town centre and Birkdale, after Conservative councillor Pat Ball stepped down due to ill health.
Former NHS nurse Ann Pearmain has been chosen as the Conservative candidate to contest the seat, while former Southport MP John Pugh said he was considering standing for election for the Liberal Democrats.
The former head of services at Bradford council, Mr Hanley now lives in Ainsdale with his wife, Anne, and is actively involved in the local community. He is also Southport Labour’s observer to Sefton Council.
Mr Hanley said this experience helped him to understand the huge strain the local authority was operating under due to Government cuts to Sefton’s budget and the need to work co-operatively with it for the good of Southport.
He said: “Sefton has lost some £200m in funding since 2010. That is a devastating amount and I’m amazed that it manages to do what it does, working under that type of restraint. It deserves a lot more credit than it gets in these circumstances but others in Southport just want to constantly attack it rather than acknowledge the constraints it operates under, and try to work with it for the good of our town.
“Our town has suffered as a result of those cuts. Our community has suffered too. We have endured cutbacks to vital services for children, for the elderly, for all of us. To what end?
“Drive around our town, on our roads, past our parks and playgrounds, that’s what those cuts look like. Does it feel like Southport has benefited from their choice?’’
Mr Hanley added: “Issues like the red tarmac for Lord Street really highlight the problem. At double the cost it was simply unjustifiable at a time when children’s centres are also having to be decommissioned and reorganised, but the Tories and Lib Dems jump up and down about it, even though they are the reason the cost can’t be met.
“It’s also important to remember they didn’t oppose it when it was passed back in April.
“Southport needs change, it needs funding for local government; funding for Southport. We need Labour councillors here who will work for the good of the town within the local authority. We need cooperation not condemnation. We need progress.”