THREE quarters of Winchester city councillors up for election next month are standing down.

An unprecedented 12 of 16 councillors have decided to retire rather than contest the polls on May 4.

Eight of the 11 Liberal Democrats are leaving, two of the three Conservatives and two independents, both of whom were previously Tories.

The council leader Martin Tod, who is standing again, said the last four years, including the Covid lockdown and the cost of living crisis, had put deep strain on elected representatives.

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The city council currently comprises 28 Lib Dems, 13 Tories, three independents and one Green. It means the Lib Dems are unlikely to lose overall control as the Conservatives would have to win at least eight seats.

The highest profile retiree is Paula Ferguson, deputy leader and Cabinet member for community and housing. She said: "I’m stepping down for a while for personal reasons but hope I may have the chance to be a Liberal Democrat councillor again soon. Being elected to be a city councillor is a real honour and I’m very proud to have been able to represent people in St Bartholomew Ward for the last four years."
 

Several councillors are departing after only one term, including Cllr Ferguson and Charles Radcliffe who represents the Lib Dems in St Michael ward. He said: "It's true there does seem to be quite a few departures this year - on both sides of the aisle. In my case, the decision is for purely personal reasons. As a solo parent of a child with special needs, I've found it hard sometimes to combine the roles of parent and councillor.

"Add to that the time commitment involved in running in an election and it would have become unmanageable. Lib Dem candidates are expected to knock on every door in every street, which means being out most afternoons and evenings and every weekend for a couple of months before election day - and that's something I just couldn't manage this year, given my son's needs."

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Cllr Radcliffe added: "To be honest, I've got mixed feelings about leaving. At one level, it'll be a relief to hand over to the next person, but a big part of me wishes I'd had more time to help see through some of the changes now underway - especially in Silver Hill, North Walls/River Park and St Giles Hill.

"For all the frustrations, it's hugely rewarding when do manage to help get something done, whether it's big things like improving the state of our parks and playgrounds or smaller issues like new bins and benches in the High Street."

Two senior Tories are retiring: Hugh Lumby in Upper Meon Valley and former mayor David McLean in Bishop's Waltham.

Cllr Lumby said the main reason for stepping down is health-related as he has been suffering with voicebox issues.

But he criticised the council's direction of travel: "I have seen over the course of my four and half years on the council that it has been increasingly emasculated and so rendered ineffectual. There are some great officers but too many people have left so that there is less and less it can do well. Those that remain often appear to have too much to do and quality suffers. Planning and enforcement are one example.

"It has also become increasingly centred on the city itself. As a councillor for a rural area in the National Park, the council is increasingly irrelevant and so the ability to make a difference is weakened. We are told for example that great progress is being made on flytipping but one look at the rural verges shows the truth."

The 'Mother of Council', Therese Evans, a long-serving chair of the planning committee who serves Southwick and Wickham, is stepping down after nearly 30 years.

Also going are two independents, formerly Conservatives, Victoria Weston in Central Meon Valley and Judith Clementson in Denmead. Cllr Clementson was suspended from the Conservative Party in 2020 after her Islamaphobic tweets were exposed by the Hope not Hate group.

The host of Lib Dems not standing again includes Derek Green who resigned from being mayor in February for undisclosed reasons. Several one-term Lib Dem councillors are leaving: Tony Bronk in Colden Common and Twyford, Hannah Williams in Badger Farm and Oliver's Battery, Mike Craske in St Barnabas and Jonathan Fern in Whiteley and Shedfield.

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Cllr Caroline Horrill, the leader of the Conservative group and former council leader, is standing in Wonston and Micheldever.

Several former councillors are seeking comebacks. Tories Ian Tait and Fiona Mather are contesting St Luke and St Michael. Former Labour group leader Patrick Davies is standing in St Bartholomew.

Unusually the Lib Dems, Conservatives, Labour and Greens are standing in all 16 wards being contested.

Council leader Martin Tod said: "It’s been a gruelling four years since 2019 – with the pandemic followed by the cost of living crisis - and a lot of people’s lives have changed a lot.  Most of us are in quite a different place to where we were four years ago and dealing with new and different pressures. And that’s also true for councillors. Particularly if people are facing more pressure at work – or want to spend more time as a partner, parent or grandparent – it’s very understandable if they choose to step back from the role.

"There have also been specific challenges in local government. A lot of the personal contact and interaction that councillors value couldn’t happen during the pandemic – and it’s not always easy to deal with the continued pressure on council budgets.

"We (Lib Dems) have got more of our councillors staying on than any other group. All of the people elected as Conservatives four years ago bar one are standing down. The problems are not specific to any one party.  We’ve also got fantastic new candidates putting themselves forward, and I’m hoping they won’t have to face anything as extreme as the pandemic or the economic chaos we’ve seen in the last year.

"And when the time is right, I really hope that we see some of the councillors who are deciding to stand back now feeling ready to put their names forward again."