Mark Thackray

Statement to voters

Dear Residents, My name is Mark Thackray. There are many people who live in Dewsbury and find work in Leeds. For me it's the other way round! I have worked in and around the local mills since I was a teenage lad, and have been running a textile machine manufacturing business in Dewsbury for over 20 years. The business provides skilled local jobs and helps to keep up the district's proud heritage of textile manufacturing and traditional engineering. I am standing as the Dewsbury Borough Independent candidate on Thursday 6th May because these are the most important local elections for a generation. The Kirklees Labour administration led by Shabir Pandor has lost its council majority and could collapse at any moment. Despite their party's constant moaning about Council Tax, they betrayed residents in Dewsbury and put up the bills another 5% in the middle of a pandemic. This now means Council Tax has risen 26% over the last five years. Labour always put up taxes on hard-working families, but a huge part of the problem is the Conservatives' ongoing failure to deal with funding pressures for council services. Bills all over the country are going up by far more than they should be. The Kirklees Conservatives are also responsible for their own shocking attempt to "slow and rethink" investment in Dewsbury Town Centre by amending the council's budget. Your Dewsbury Borough Independent Councillor Aleks Lukic helped to defeat this Tory ploy. Dewsbury has been waiting far too long already for important projects like The Arcade. Our town deserves to have local control over how the taxes we raise are spent. Instead Kirklees Council is spending £35 million on a 'Sound Space' for Huddersfield. Far more is being spent on this single project than on anything in Dewsbury. We believe this is wrong and what we raise locally should be spent locally. We are also completely against the new West Yorkshire Mayor with an expected salary of over £100,000 now being forced upon us. The Dewsbury Borough Independents will keep fighting for change and putting Dewsbury first on every decision. Any party that needs our support to run Kirklees Council after these elections will have to meet our three clear conditions: 1. There must be greater restraint over Council Tax increases 2. The regeneration plans for Dewsbury must proceed on schedule 3. To help boost trade in Dewsbury, shoppers must be allowed free short-stay parking throughout the town like in Batley, Mirfield and Cleckheaton. Your vote on Thursday 6th May will help us to work towards a brighter future for Dewsbury, with a strong group of independent councillors who prioritise our town over party politics. Mark Thackray

Election history

Westminster general elections