As the new decade gets underway, we do so with a political stability that we haven’t had at all during the last decade. The Coalition government of 2010 to 2015 held together and did the groundwork to recover the economy and public finances from the disastrous previous Labour government, but being a coalition meant that truly radical change was always going to be difficult.
From 2015, we then had two years of a Conservative government with a very small majority, which was lost in the 2017 general election, meaning that a minority Conservative government was at the mercy of a disruptive Parliament which sought to sabotage the democratic referendum outcome for the UK to leave the European Union. These last two years really has shown Parliament at its worst and the big clear-out at last month’s general election was very welcome indeed.
We now have a Conservative government with a majority of 80, a level not seen since 1987. This means that unlike the last decade, we now have a strong government that can deliver on the priorities of the British people and actually get things done. Being able to be decisive, forward-looking, and not at the mercy of a Marxist-led opposition doing everything possible to frustrate the Brexit vote and bring down the government, is a cause for great optimism. I genuinely believe that the serious and very real risk of a Labour government coming to power has been lowering business investment and economic growth since 2017.
The positive outcome of last month’s general election means we can move forward this decade with politically stability, at least for the first half of it. First up will be delivering Brexit in just over three weeks’ time. Regardless of whether you voted leave or remain, most people agree that it has dragged on for far too long and that Brexit needs resolving so that the government can focus on the everyday issues that affect people’s lives. The 2010s was a successful decade for Crawley and I feel confident that with a strong Conservative government, the 2020s will be even better.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
8th January 2020