An appeal from Rosco Paterson Reform UK co-ordinator for Surrey.
“all candidates are important, and any candidate allows us to get the Reform UK logo and name onto the voting slips”
May 4th seems close but not touching. The Reform UK process for the application by and the selection of council candidates, although not overlong, means we must get things going quickly. The deadlines imposed by the councils themselves for meetings with candidates and election agents are also pretty aggressive.
Resources are a limiting factor against this timescale, and we fully understand that candidates standing now, for the most part, will not be able to manage a fully equipped campaign and everything that goes with it, but all candidates are important, and any candidate allows us to get the Reform UK logo and name onto the voting slips. If we can pass 800 candidates then we get a party political broadcast; that would be a real win.
If you decide to do this and also give it a go for the election, we promise to communicate with members in the county (and outside) with the hope of assisting you for leafletting and door-knocking. So as an ardent request please contact me ([email protected]) if you are interested and willing to:
- Stand in the forthcoming council elections on May 4th, (for those eligible in Surrey)
- Could be available, for leafletting, and/or
- Could be available, for buddying up with a candidate for doorstep chats.
I was asked the other day how many seats were up for grabs and our starting position. I think you will see from the following table just how many opportunities there are in all 11 boroughs in the county. Some councils elect all their councillors every four years and some rotate one-third of their councillors each year, the size of the prize is still considerable. (The table also shows the control of each borough as published after the last major elections and a few recent updates):
| Elmbridge | 16 | NOC Residents Assoc & LibDem |
| Epsom and Ewell | 13 | Residents Associations |
| Guildford | 48 | NOC LibDem Minority Admin |
| Mole Valley | 14 | LibDem |
| Reigate and Banstead | 15 | Conservative |
| Runnymede | 14 | Conservative |
| Spelthorne | 39 | Conservative |
| Surrey Heath | 35 | Conservative |
| Tandridge | 14 | NOC Residents Assoc & Independent |
| Waverley | 57 | NOC Residents Assoc & LibDem |
| Woking | 10 | LibDem |
The total is 275 seats; that is over one-third of the target required for the whole country, just here in Surrey, for the party’s political broadcast.
You can contact Rosco at [email protected].