Christchurch Independents

Political party in the United Kingdom

Christchurch Independents

Abbreviation| CI
Leader| Andrew Martin
Founded| 2019; 6 years ago (2019)
Registered| 8 February 2021
Merger of| Former Conservative and independent councillors
Headquarters| Christchurch, Dorset
BCP council seats|

8 / 76

Website
christchurchindependents.co.uk

* Politics of the United Kingdom
* Political parties
* Elections

The Christchurch Independents (CI) are a political party and group in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council, formed by journalist Andy Martin and (former) Conservative and Independent Councillors after the reorganisation of local government in Dorset, with new candidates joining to stand in Christchurch wards for the inaugural 2019 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Election. Originally not forming a registered political party, CI was initially the joint-third largest alongside the Poole People and ALL group. In 2020, Christchurch Independents councillor Colin Bungey died, leading to a by-election being held the next year in the Commons Ward, for which the Christchurch Independents were registered as a political party.[1]

## History

[edit]

### Background

[edit]

See also: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Location of the former Christchurch borough (dark red) within Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (red) and Dorset

In 2018 Christchurch Borough Council unsuccessfully attempted to appeal against the planned reorganisation of Dorset into two unitary authorities, which would see Christchurch cease to be a borough as part of Dorset County Council, and instead become part of the new unitary Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole authority, albeit with a town council remaining for Christchurch itself and several other parish councils in the former authority.[2][3] In March 2018, independent Christchurch Councillor Colin Bungey wrote an email to Conservative Councillors in the borough, urging them resign from the party in response to government support for the merger.[4]

At the first meeting of the BCP Shadow Authority, comprising all councillors of the districts of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole alongside the county councillors for Christchurch, Christchurch Council Leader David Flagg declared a conflict of interest due to Christchurch Council's legal challenge to the merger and that they would not be able to attend meetings until the legal challenge was resolved, before walking out alongside several Conservative and independent Christchurch Councillors, though with several remaining, including former council leader Ray Nottage.[5] Colin Bungey reiterated his call in October of that year, arguing that Christchurch Councillors would be "under the control of the Bournemouth whip", with Christchurch having 10 councillors compared to Bournemouth and Poole having 66.[6]

Subsequently, five Conservative Councillors in Christchurch, alongside two existing independent councillors, announced their plan to stand as independents.[7] In March 2019, councillors David Flagg, Paul Hilliard, Nick Geary, David Jones, Lesley Dedman and Margaret Phipps were suspended from the Conservative party, alongside the deputy president of the Christchurch Conservative association, Simon McCormack.[8][9] Six of the Councillors (not including David Jones) alongside McCormack announced their intention to stand as independents, with new candidates joining the existing councillors.[10] Ultimately ten candidates stood for the BCP council election as part of the Christchurch Independents group,[11][12] also calling for taxes across the new district to be equal.[13]

### 2019 Election and Unity Alliance

[edit]

Main article: 2019 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council election

Results of the 2019 election. Christchurch Independents are represented alongside other independents, numbering 11 in total. Other parties included the Conservatives (36), Liberal Democrats (15) Poole People (7), Labour (3), Green Party (2), ALL (1) and UKIP (1)

Under the new ward arrangements, there were five two-member wards in the former Christchurch Borough; the Christchurch Independents ultimately stood two candidates in each. The Christchurch Independent candidates won eight out of ten seats, with the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives winning one seat each in the Christchurch Town Ward, with the CI candidates coming fifth and sixth after two more Liberal Democrat and Conservative candidates. The 2019 election as a whole resulted in the council coming under no overall control, with no single party holding a majority. Whilst the Conservatives won the largest number of seats, 36, this was three short of the 39 required for a majority. The Liberal Democrats were the second largest party, and Independent Councillors (11 total) as a whole and the Christchurch Independents by themselves constituted the third largest group on the council, with the Christchurch Independents and Poole People and ALL groups both on 8 members.

The elected councillors met after the election, with Councillor Margaret Phillips elected as the group leader with Councillor David Flagg as Deputy, with the group stating that they would be open to working with any groups in the Council other than the Conservatives, having pledged to oppose the Conservatives prior to the election;[14] ultimately a "Unity Alliance" administration was formed by all parties other than the Conservatives and UKIP, with the Liberal Democrats leader Vikki Slade becoming leader of the council and Christchurch Independent David Flagg becoming Chair.[15][16]

Elections were also held for the new Highcliffe & Walkford Neighbourhood Council and Christchurch Town Council, with uncontested appointments made for the Burton and Winkton and Hurn Parish Councils.[17]

### Opposition

[edit]

BCP Council composition after the election of Drew Mellor as leader

In September 2019, Councillor Nigel Brooks left the group to sit as a "wholly independent" councillor,[18] and in April 2020 Councillor Colin Bungey died,[19] leaving the group with 6 councillors. Due to these developments, alongside the departure of two Poole People councillors from both their party and one from the Unity Alliance (meaning that the Poole People and ALL group was still joint-third largest group alongside CI), a vote of no confidence in Vikki Slade was held in June 2020, which resulted in a tie of 37 votes each way alongside one abstention, with Council Chairman Cllr David Flagg casting the deciding vote against the motion, meaning that the Unity Alliance continued.[20] However, subsequently a Liberal Democrat councillor died,[21] and the remaining former-Poole People councillor also left the alliance, leaving it with a minority;[22] a second vote of no confidence was held in September, which passed and thus removed Vikki Slade as leader.[23]

A meeting of the council was scheduled for October 1 in order to elect a new leader of the council; Conservative leader on the council Drew Mellor was nominated by his deputy Phill Broadhead, stating that the council "needed a reset", whilst Christchurch Independent Lesley Dedman nominated Vikki Slade. with Conservative Group Leader Drew Mellor subsequently elected leader of the Council, forming a new minority administration. In a secret ballot, Mellor received 40 votes for leader, whilst Slade received 33 votes, with a single abstention, with Mellor duly elected leader of the council; Mellor appealed to the Christchurch Independents to join the administration with potential offers of cabinet position, but the offer was rejected, with a statement reading "We stood on a platform in the elections last year that the Tories cannot be trusted to protect Christchurch and we won eight of the ten seats".[24][25][26] The statement also reiterated the group's plans to contest the eventual by-election for Colin Bungey's Commons ward seat, with Vanessa Ricketts as the prospective candidate.[26][27][28]

The Christchurch Independents were registered as a political party in February 2021, standing Vanessa Rickets as the Christchurch Independents candidate in the Commons Ward, where she won 44.67% of the vote and was duly elected councillor.[29]

The party's founder Andy Martin was elected to the council on 6 October 2022, in a by-election in Highcliffe and Walkford.[30]

### 2023 Election and Three Towns Alliance

[edit]

Main article: 2023 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council election

BCP Council composition after the 2024 election

In the 2023 the Christchurch Independents again stood a full slate of ten candidates, holding eight seats, with the Liberal Democrats gaining and holding the final two Christchurch Seats. The Conservatives lost their majority in the election, and subsequent to the election, the Christchurch Independents joined the Liberal Democrat-lead 'Three Towns Alliance', alongside the Poole People Party and The Bournemouth Independent Group.

In the 2024 General Election, Christchurch Independents Councillor Simon McCormack stood in the Christchurch constituency, albeit not with the party label and instead as an independent. He came sixth out of nine candidates, with 1,728 votes, 3.7% of the total.

## Councillors

[edit]

### Currently sitting councillors

[edit]

Name  | Ward[31]

|

Lesley Dedman  | Mudeford, Standpit & West Highcliffe
Paul Hilliard
David Flagg  | Burton & Grange
Simon McCormack
Andy Martin and David Martin  | Highcliffe & Walkford
Margaret Phipps  | Commons
Vanessa Ricketts

### Former Councillors

[edit]

Name  | Ward  | Notes

|
|

Nigel Brooks  | Highcliffe & Walkford | Resigned to become "wholly independent" councillor in September 2019[18]
Colin Bungey  | Commons | Died April 2020,[19] with by-election taking place in May 2021
Nick Geary  | Highcliffe & Walkford | Died July 2022,[32] with by-election taking place in October 2022

### Parishes

[edit]

Several Christchurch Independents were also elected to parishes in the Christchurch area as independents: Janet Abbott, one of the former-Christchurch Conservatives to leave the party, was elected to the Grange Ward of Christchurch Town Council, alongside Simon McCormack.[33] Lesley Dedman and Paul Hilliard were elected to the Friars Cliff Ward of the Town Council.[34] Colin Bungey was elected to the Jumpers & St Catherine's Ward, but died in April 2020.[35][19] The (unsuccessful) CI Candidate for the BCP Christchurch Town Ward, Fred Neale, was also elected to the Jumpers & St Catherine's Ward of Christchurch Town Council.[35]

Nigel Brooks was also elected to Highcliffe and Walkford Parish Council, but left the group in September 2019.[18]

## Electoral results

[edit]

Ward map of the results of the 2019 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council election. Christchurch seats are in the North East

All below results tally the votes of the highest polling candidate for each party within each ward. This is known as the top candidate method and is often used for multi-member plurality elections. Christchurch Independents are counted as separately from other independents for the purpose of the 2019 Results

Year  | Votes  | Vote share  | Seats  | Council Control

|
|
|
|

Whole Council  | Christchurch Seats
2019 | 7,106  | 6.26%  | 44.27%  |

8 / 76

|  | No overall control
2023 | 15,231  | 7.7%  |  |

8 / 76

|  | No overall control

### 2019 election

[edit]

Ward  | Candidate  | Votes  | Position  | %

|
|
|
|

Burton and Grange | David Flagg  | Simon McCormack  | 1,196  | 1,053  | 1st  | 2nd  | 49.48
Christchurch Town | Fred Neale  | Lindy Stuart-Clark  | 668  | 625  | 5th  | 6th  | 21.24
Commons | Colin Bungey  | Margaret Phipps  | 1,623  | 1,567  | 1st  | 2nd  | 50.54
Highcliffe and Walkford | Nigel Brooks  | Nick Geary  | 1,792  | 1,617  | 1st  | 2nd  | 48.96
Mudeford, Stanpit and West Highcliffe | Lesley Dedman  | Paul Hilliard  | 1,827  | 1,722  | 1st  | 2nd  | 50.52

### By-election

[edit]

2021 Commons by-election  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Christchurch Independents  | Vanessa Helen Ricketts  | 1,310  | 44.67  |
| Conservative | Lisle Carol Smith  | 822  | 28.03  |
| Independent | Fred Neale  | 296  | 10.09  |
| Liberal Democrats | Carol Ann Gardiner  | 242  | 8.25  |
| Labour | Peter Stokes  | 214  | 7.29  |
| UKIP | Peter James Bailey  | 48  | 1.6  |
Majority |  |  |
Total votes  |  |  |
2022 Highcliffe and Walkford by-election  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Christchurch Independents  | Andy Martin  | 1,778  | 61.95  |
| Liberal Democrats | Pete Brown  | 571  | 19.89  |
| Conservative | Christopher Seymour Nigel Van Hagen  | 358  | 8.98  |
| Labour | David Stokes  | 358  | 5.85  |
Majority | 1,207  | 42.06  |
Total votes  | 2,875  |  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "View registration - The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
2. ^ "Christchurch appeal bid refused over council merger". BBC News. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
3. ^ "Christchurch fails in High Court bid over Dorset merger plan". BBC News. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
4. ^ "Tories urged to quit party over council merger 'injustice'". Bournemouth Echo. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
5. ^ "Mass walk-out at first meeting of Shadow Authority". Bournemouth Echo. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
6. ^ "Conservative councillors 'should stand as independents on new unitary authority'". Bournemouth Echo. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
7. ^ "'Independent' Christchurch councillors decision is "perfectly legitimate", says MP". Bournemouth Echo. 3 January 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
8. ^ "Christchurch Tories suspended over merger election row". BBC News. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
9. ^ "'A strong and united voice': Five Christchurch Conservatives to stand as independents". Bournemouth Echo. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
10. ^ "Christchurch Tories suspended over merger election row". BBC News. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
11. ^ "Which Independents will be taking on the Tories in Christchurch in May?". Bournemouth Echo. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
12. ^ "Which Independents will be taking on the Tories in Christchurch in May?". Bournemouth Echo. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
13. ^ "'The situation is intolerable' – Christchurch Independents urge government to reverse council tax plans". Bournemouth Echo. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
14. ^ "Christchurch Independents open to talks with all parties and groups other than the Conservatives". Bournemouth Echo. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
15. ^ "Vikki Slade named leader of BCP Council as 'Unity Alliance' takes control of new authority". Bournemouth Echo. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
16. ^ "Alliance takes control of new BCP Council in Dorset". BBC News. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
17. ^ Waller, Jon (18 April 2019). "Tories face challenge from party rebels in first 'super council' elections". Advertiser and Times. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
18. ^ a b c "Councillor leaves Christchurch Independents to become "wholly independent"". Bournemouth Echo. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
19. ^ a b c "We have a lost a wonderful, decent, honourable man and a great servant to Christchurch". Bournemouth Echo. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
20. ^ "Vote of no confidence motion in BCP Council leader fails by slimmest of margins". Bournemouth Echo. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
21. ^ "Passing of Cllr Pete Parrish". www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
22. ^ Service, Local Democracy Reporting (5 September 2020). "Councillor leaves ruling coalition over 'catalogue of catastrophic policy decisions'". Advertiser and Times. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
23. ^ "BCP Council leader ousted from role after vote of no confidence succeeds". Bournemouth Echo. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
24. ^ "Tories back in control of BCP conurbation after leadership vote". Bournemouth Echo. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
25. ^ "BCP Council elects Conservative Drew Mellor as new leader". BBC News. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
26. ^ a b "Why Christchurch Independents dismissed coalition offer from BCP Council leader". Bournemouth Echo. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
27. ^ "Christchurch Independents on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 4 September 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
28. ^ "Christchurch Independents on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 6 September 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
29. ^ "Commons ward by-election results 2021". www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
30. ^ "New BCP councillor vows to "restore some decency, honesty and integrity"". Bournemouth Echo. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
31. ^ "Your Councillors". democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
32. ^ "'A true community man' – tributes to former Christchurch mayor Nick Geary". New Milton Advertiser and Lymington Times. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
33. ^ "Christchurch Town Council - Grange Ward". www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
34. ^ "Christchurch Town Council - Friars Cliff Ward". www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
35. ^ a b "Christchurch Town Council - Jumpers & St Catherine's Ward". www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.