The election night already feels
like a long time ago, but these nights are always a real challenge and hundreds
of council staff took on a variety of roles, from manning the polling stations
to counting the ballots through the night, and I couldn’t be more proud of
their professionalism and dedication and I would like to extend my thanks to
everyone who worked on the election.
An election count is such a
precise and complex process, and I never fail to be amazed at the skills of the
team who bring it all together so swiftly and calmly – despite the pressures of
working through the night with the eyes of all those agents, journalists, tv
cameras and politicians focused on their every move.
As is often the case after an
election we wake up to a new Government.
As the Government takes shape and establishes its direction for the next
few years, I’m confident that there will be lots of areas that will benefit and
complement our work here in Wiltshire.
Of course there will be issues on
which we will differ. Last year the council received
£119 million from the Government – this year it will get £103.8 million. This
was a cut of more than £15 million and we will be urging caution on the new
administration when considering the impact of any further reductions in local
authority grants.
On the rise of the election we turned our attention to the VE Day anniversary with a 1940s theme at our Cycle Wiltshire event. The weather was kind to us, and hundreds of people enjoyed taking part in the various Sportive events and exploring the Sportive Village on the Saturday, while hundreds more lined the streets of Salisbury and Wilton on the Sunday to witness the extraordinary spectacle of the elite riders battling it out in the Cycle Wiltshire Grand Prix race.
I had a wonderful time on both
days, meeting people who had come from far and wide to enjoy the event, and I
know both from chatting to them in the streets of Salisbury and Wilton and
reading the positive feedback on social media that everyone had a great time.
We have another landmark event coming up in June
with the Magna Carta pageant in Salisbury that will bring communities together
from across the county to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the
sealing of the Magna Carta.
The celebrations will take place on the evening of Monday
15 June, from 6 – 10 pm, eight centuries to the day since King John met the
group of rebel barons at Runnymede and consented to a series of promises for
new civic liberties ranging from the protection of church rights to access to
swift and fair justice.
The spirits of the barons will be reborn in the guise of
a series of larger-than-life 9 foot high puppets, representing the diverse
communities that make up Wiltshire. The barons will be paraded through the city
from the Market Square to the Cathedral, which itself plays host to the most
intact copy of the Magna Carta in existence.
Each of the barons will lead a delegation from each of
Wiltshire’s communities. Hundreds will participate in the pageant, and
thousands are expected to line the streets of the city as the procession weaves
its way to its destination, where dignitaries will take part in the signing of
a new Magna Carta statement for Wiltshire in the 21st century.
We are coordinating and managing
the event in partnership with Salisbury Cathedral and Salisbury City Council
and a range of other partner organisations.
We are relying on the help of
staff as volunteers to help marshal and assist with this major event and I
would like to say a huge thank you to all of you who have volunteered already.
These types of events promote great team spirit and relationship building and I
am delighted you have signed up to get involved in this one-off major event.
Some of you may also recall the curry and quiz night we held last year.
It was a really fun night and raised thousands for Hope for Tomorrow; a charity
that provides mobile chemotherapy units that go to people living in rural areas
helping them to avoid long journeys to their nearest hospital.
We’ve agreed to host another evening. This time it will be at City Hall, in Salisbury, on Wednesday 24 June, from 5.30pm to 9.30pm. Hox Brasserie will be providing the curry and for those of you not familiar with this brasserie, I can honestly say the food is a real treat and the evening will be lots of fun. Tickets are now available and we would like as many teams as possible to take part and raise lots of money for this great charity.
Facilitating the election and
delivering big community events like Cycle Wiltshire or the Magna Carta pageant
are examples of the diverse work that we do and a perfect illustration of how
we support and encourage vibrant communities. Long may that continue.
