VOTE ANDREW DOUGLAS POPE, INDEPENDENT NETWORK CANDIDATE FOR THE SHIRLEY 2026 BY-ELECTION

 

Andrew Douglas Pope of the Independent Network and Southampton Independents

Emblem of the Independent Network

Andrew Douglas Pope is announcing his candidacy for the Shirley ward by-election on 26th February 2026, standing for the Independent Network. 

More information about Andrew Douglas Pope's campaigning, activism and organising work over the last three decades, is on this Southampton Independents website page here. 

Andrew, who was the co-founder of Southampton Independents, says:  

"Dear Residents of Shirley ward of Southampton City Council,

ANOTHER BY-ELECTION CAUSED BY ANOTHER BIG POLITICAL PARTY LETTING YOU DOWN

In 2024, residents had enough of political parties and encouraged me to stand as an Independent candidate. So I did! I listened. I acted. Labour or Tory, same old story, I said. Now add the Lib Dems.

Residents told me they wanted me to stand again next time. I promised to. So I am. Residents say:

“Andrew is genuine, knowledgeable, persistent and experienced. He knows what he is talking about and is very articulate.” (Resident Chris who lives in the Coxford part of the Shirley ward).

“Andrew is very enthusiastic and believes in what he is doing. I will be voting for him.” (Resident Derek who lives in the Maybush part of the Shirley ward).

“Andrew is very straight-forward and outspoken in his views. In my opinion, he is exactly what we need in Shirley.” (Resident Bogdan who lives in the Old Shirley part of the Shirley ward).

Residents support me because I listen, lead, and act. People wanted action on hospital traffic and parking. I led and won a 12-year campaign for a Southampton Park and Ride for hospital staff and another for the public and football fans too. I led a Council inquiry into transport to the hospital. I ran a petition on the derelict pub and spoke for you at the Council Planning meeting. I called in the Echo for the Labour Cabinet Member for Transport to be sacked, and he was. There’s more to do.

What issues matter to you? If you want independent representation, you have to vote for it. 

I am part of the Independent Network of councillors and campaigners. We work together with residents. Independents have won here in Southampton, on the Isle of Wight, and across England. I was a passionate Independent councillor for Redbridge and there were three in Coxford too.

Get in touch to tell me what matters. Listening carefully is vital. That is the start of taking the correct actions with experience and competence. More residents are joining my team and fighting back against the big political parties. I lead by example and inspire others to act. I’ve proved it.

Thank you for reading this letter. Please make sure other people in your household see it. Get in touch at the details below. Put this letter in your window to show your support.

Please vote for me on 26th February. Vote for independent representation and action."

Andrew Pope, Member of the Independent Network, Co-Founder of Southampton Independents

Park and Ride - New Labour Cabinet Member for Transport Takes Two Months To Reply - AND THEN QUITS!

 

Southampton's Weekend-only Park and Ride bus

 

Andrew Pope says: 

 

"What was good about Christie Lambert's very late answer was that she said that she was committed to a Park and Ride. 

But obviously she was not committed enough to the Park and Ride to stay in the Cabinet Member role to get the Park and Ride right before her departure.

She is still a councillor and Deputy Leader, so I expect her to ensure that I get answers to my questions now from her or her replacement, after nearly three months of patience. 

Other councillors know, and residents know, that I am an annoyingly persistent and experienced campaigner. 

I would not have won this 12-year campaign for Southampton, and visitors to our City, otherwise!"

 

Andrew speaking to BBC South Today

 

Winning the Park and Ride Campaign 

Our co-founder Andrew Pope initiated his campaign for a Southampton Park and Ride over 12 years ago, when he led a Council inquiry into hospital transport.

He kept up the pressure by calling in the bus companies and held hospital senior management to account to their "strategy" documents, including successive chief executives, over those years.

The hospital management kept their promise of a staff Park and Ride.

Andrew kept up the pressure for a public Park and Ride, because residents kept complaining about City centre congestion, including when Saints FC were at home.

And hospital parking, including staff parking on a wide area across Southampton near the hospital, both continued to be a problem.

Yet the Council continued to not deliver this public Park and Ride.

Then, when Andrew attended a Council Planning meeting, he continued the pressure by asking "Where is the Park and Ride?" to Labour councillors.

He had also called for the Labour Cabinet Member for Transport, Eamonn Keogh, to be sacked, in a letter to the Daily Echo. Keogh was sacked and replaced by Councillor Christie Lambert. 

As if by magic, the public Park and Ride happened shortly after.

 

Making Improvements

But the weekend Park and Ride, in Andrew's opinion, the Park and Ride that the Council, Bluestar and hospital had delivered was not good enough.

So he went and checked. And checked again.

Then he wrote into the Daily Echo, who published his letter, pointing out the shortfalls.

He wrote to the new Cabinet Member Christie Lambert with some questions, and a copy of the letter.

And he wrote to Bluestar, and the hospital Chief Executive, giving them a right of reply.

 

No Response from the Cabinet Member

Bluestar responded and said that "obviously" the Park and Ride was a "trial". This was never communicated to the public in the Council press release.

The hospital Chief Executive did not respond, which sadly was the level of response of previous chief executives at the first attempt on a range of issues that Andrew raised with them.

And the Labour Cabinet Member for Transport did not respond.

For two months.

And then, days before Christmas 2025, she finally answered and apologised for the delayed response.

Then it was reported in local media that she had quit from the role of Cabinet Member.

So she has been given the opportunity to answer again, including of whether this was a "trial".

INVESTIGATION: Empty Park and Ride Buses "Not Good Enough" says Campaigner Andrew Pope

 

Southampton Public Park and Ride Bus at Adanac Park
Photo: Southampton Independents

Campaigner and Founder of Southampton Independents Andrew Pope went along to investigate the new Park and Ride for the public to use at the weekend, to see if it met his expectations, having campaigned for it for over a decade. 

His letter was published in the Southern Daily Echo on Monday 13th October 2025.

Bluestar buses, the Chief Executive of University Hospitals Southampton and Southampton City Council's Cabinet Member for Tranposrt, Councillor Christie Lambert, have been offered the opportunity to comment. At the time of writing, only Bluestar have responded.

 

Andrew Pope Park and Ride Letter in Southern Daily Echo
13th October 2025 

The full text of the letter is below. 

 

Former Councillor Andrew Pope Speaking to BBC South Today

 

Park and Ride Not Good Enough  

"As a long-term campaigner for a better Southampton for residents and visitors, I was very pleased that a campaign that I began in 2013 has been successful.

A Southampton Park and Ride is finally here, after years of road chaos and pollution caused by visitors and workers who do not live here.

Bluestar and the Hospital were always helpful in this campaign. Southampton City Council dithered and delayed for over a decade.

So I had to remind councillors at the recent Planning meeting about the delay. It seems to have worked, as weeks after my speech there, and after such a long delay, it finally happened.

And now it is here, but it is not good enough. Now it is here and it has to be made to work, and work all week, not just at weekends.

So when I checked up on the actual Park and Ride that is operating over the past few weeks, I was concerned to see the poor promotion of it. And almost empty or completely empty buses, which I confirmed with the drivers.

Yes, it will take time for people to start to use it, and it is early days, only a month in.

But the signage and information, marketing and promotion need to be improved dramatically, and quickly.

It all seemed to be reliant on online information, and obviously that is no good for someone who is driving.

Apart from a tiny sign on a lamppost, there was no information at Adanac Park about fares, parking costs, how to get a ticket, or who to get it from.

And there were no signs on the M271 telling passengers to go off at Junction 1. I noticed this, and so did the bus drivers, who said they had told bus management. 

So Park and Ride passengers would be confused and annoyed, and either end up at Romsey, back on the M27 or in Southampton - defeating the purpose of a Park and Ride completely!

I can hear the lame excuses from the Council already, saying that the M271 is Highways Agency or part of a road is Hampshire County Council. Frankly, I don't care about passing the buck, I heard that countless times when I was a councillor for eight years. 

It's the Council's job to co-ordinate in any partnership arrangement.

Fixing all of the above will improve passenger numbers, visitor satisfaction and drive Southampton towards a permanent and daily Park and Ride, something our City badly needs. I will carry on campaigning."

Southampton Independents Emblem

CAMPAIGN VICTORY: 3 Years Later, Southampton Labour's Disastrous Portswood Bus Gate Is Gone!

 

Councillor Eamonn Keogh SACKED From the Cabinet

 

 ... just two months after the Cabinet Member for Transport Captain Road-Chaos Councillor Eamonn Keogh had been sacked from the Cabinet, amid comments that he was proud of his record, with Keogh saying he was:

"very proud of the improvements that the transforming cities grant has brought to the city".

In a letter published in the Daily Echo in February 205, campaigner and former Southampton Independents Councillor Andrew Pope called for Keogh to be sacked from the Cabinet by the former Labour Leader of the Council Lorna Fielker. She refused to. She lacked the authority, it seemed.

Former Council Leader Councillor Lorna Fielker

Keogh was allowed to go ahead with the scheme by Fielker, despite the huge outcry against it. So the call for his removal was necessary. 

Shortly after Pope's call in February 2025 for the sacking of Keogh, suddenly and shockingly, the previously weak Conservative Council opposition developed a backbone and called for Keogh to resign. This did not happen, either. 

It took another failed Labour Leader of the Council to go (Fielker), before it was finally confirmed by the Daily Echo this week that the Portswood Bus Gate "would not return". Previously, the Council had only announced that the "trial" had been "suspended". Keogh had tried to cling onto his Cabinet role, amid the suspension.

This is a victory for local residents, for Southampton Independents and for Andrew Pope, who joined residents and businesses in the campaign against the Portswood scheme in 2022 and encouraged people to sign the petition against the proposals in 2023.

Fresh from his twelve-year campaign victory getting a Park and Ride for Southampton, and seven-year win on safe standing at St Mary's Stadium, Andrew says:

 

Andrew Pope victorious in the Safe Standing campaign
Park and Ride and now the Portswood Bus Gate

 

"I always said that this Portswood Broadway was a stupid idea that should never have been done. 

Eamonn Keogh claimed to have listened to residents and businesses. He did not and carried on regardless. 

We had to work together to make him listen. He simply had to go if he did not.

Working with residents, and having contacted the residents groups, I spent my own time, campaign know-how and money on printing letters as a volunteer campaigner and carefully listening to Portswood residents and businesses.

The Daily Echo reported on my work, and the work of other campaigners. Thanks to all of them, we've won!

I put out a lot of letters and spent a lot of time on people's doorsteps as a volunteer in our City. Why?

Because the vast majority of local people did not want this. The consequences of the scheme were clear, yet Southampton Labour councillors went ahead with it anyway. 

It should not have taken THREE YEARS to stop this. Labour should never have done it in the first place.

Now there are lots of other stupid transport ideas that Eamonn Keogh carried out in our City, that Labour have to undo if they are to keep their Council seats at next year's local elections. Road chaos has to stop. 

Labour is already very unpopular in the national Government. The Prime Minister Keir Starmer is spending more and more time on foreign policy, which is what failing leaders have done throughout history. 

What matters is delivery for Southampton residents, and Labour have failed us - nationally in Government and locally in the Council.

Now, even Labour's own councillors are leaving the sinking Southampton Labour ship and running away to other Westminster parties. 

Do any of the current Southampton City councillors have the talent or conscience to be Independent councillors who represent Southampton residents instead of their failing Labour Party? We will see. Southampton people need proper independent representation for each ward of our City.

Like I said when I left Labour over ten years ago, it's time for Labour to be removed from power at Southampton City Council, because they lack the vision and leadership that our City needs. The evidence of that is impossible to ignore. They've had their chance, over ten years of power, and they've blown it."

 

Former Southampton Independents Councillor Andrew Pope

CAMPAIGN VICTORY: Twelve Years Later, Southampton now has a Park and Ride!

Former Southampton City Councillor Andrew Pope

Southampton finally has a Park and Ride for members of the public to use!

It has taken twelve years, and a lot of campaigning work and pressure, but it is finally here, as confirmed on the Southampton City Council website.

The Park and Ride has been a long time coming. Twelve years!

Campaigner and founder of Southampton Independents Andrew Pope started the campaign for a Southampton Park and Ride twelve years ago, back in 2013, when he was still a Labour Councillor on Southampton City Council and Parliamentary Candidate in the 2015 General Election for the New Forest East Constituency.

Andrew says:

"I am delighted to deliver another campaign win that benefits the people of Southampton, to reduce the chaos on our roads, to improve the air quality of our City, and to welcome visitors to Southampton in an orderly and sensible way.

This Park and Ride should have been delivered ten years ago, but as I said at the Council's Planning meeting recently, the Labour-run Council kept writing it in strategy documents but delivered nothing. 

So I had to keep up the pressure with various actions. That is what a campaign needs.  

Of course back in 2018 I realised that suggesting Lidl should pay for it was not a realistic suggestion, but it kept the issue in the headlines of the Daily Echo and put a focus on the issues in that part of the Redbridge ward that I used to represent on the Council.

 

Lidl Construction on Brownhill Way

The Inquiry that I ran in 2013 put pressure on the Hospital to deliver, as did my meeting with the Chief Executive and senior staff. They kept their promise to my Committee. I thanked Hospital staff for that back then and I thank them again now. 

A Park and Ride for hospital staff was a good start. What was needed was one for the public.

During the Shirley by-election in 2024 for which I stood as an Independent candidate, I heard so many Shirley, Coxford and Maybush residents complaining to me on their doorsteps, about hospital parking impacting their area, from Upper Shirley all the way to Wimpson Lane. Park and Ride would help. 

And now, there is a weekend Park and Ride.

It will be interesting to see how this can be made to work well, and then to operate it all week. Southampton needs this. 

As I did with my successful 7-year safe standing campaign and the years-long campaign for sprinklers in all Council tower blocks, I have showed that I deliver for Southampton, no matter what it takes or how long it takes.

I hope that I can continue to inspire other independent campaigners to act for our City, including those who saw me speak at the Planning meeting."

Andrew Pope's Safe Standing Campaign front-page of the Daily Echo

Andrew Pope's Sprinkler Campaign front page in the Daily Echo

Details of Weekend Park and Ride

Southampton City Council's website states:

"Avoid city centre traffic and enjoy easy travel with Southampton’s new Park & Ride service, running on weekends and public holidays. Simply park your car in the car park at the Adanac Health & Innovation Campus multi-storey and hop on a bus to the city centre. It is quick, convenient, and great value!

The car park is accessed from Adanac Drive, SO16 0AZ and is open from:

    6:30am to 9pm on Saturdays
    8.30am to 7pm on Sundays and bank holidays (except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day)

Buses will run every:

    20 mins from 7am to 7pm on Saturdays
    30 mins from 7pm to 8.30pm on Saturdays
    20 mins from 9am to 6pm on Sundays and bank holidays"

 

The Details of the Twelve Year Campaign 

In 2012-2013, as Chair of the Council's Health Overview Scrutiny Panel (HOSP), Councillor Pope ran an Inquiry into transport at the hospital, and saw the need for a Park and Ride for Southampton. He confirmed the plans of the Hospital for a Park and Ride for the hospital in his report in 2013 titled "REPORT OF HEALTH OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY PANEL PUBLIC AND SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT PROVISION TO SOUTHAMPTON GENERAL HOSPITAL – MINI REVIEW".

In the Recommendations of the Inquiry as outlined in the report:

"The (Hospital) Trust confirmed they had been working to improve transport related issues around the hospital such as hospital parking, park and ride, encouraging cycling and provision of shower facilities." 

Councillor Pope confirmed with the Hospital that they would be:

"Procuring and partnering with local organisations to provide staff with 2 x Trust subsidised Park & Ride services with parking for nom’ 320 staff, removing those cars from the hospital site and also local Southampton road networks." 

Then, after authoring the Labour Council's 2014 Local Election Manifesto, when he left Labour shortly after the 2015 General Election as reported by the Daily Echo, Andrew kept up the pressure on the Park and Ride as the first Southampton Independents councillor on Southampton City Council.

 

Independent Councillor Andrew Pope on BBC South Today

Pope met with the then Chief Executive of the Hospital to discuss the Park and Ride and other issues around the hospital such as parking problems, transport and litter in the area. He later attended another meeting with other Hospital staff to discuss their concrete proposals for a Park and Ride for hospital staff, following up on the promise from the Inquiry that he ran. 

Pope had also listened to the concerns of residents over transport in the City during his entire time as a councillor for eight years, and standing in the 2017 General Election as a Southampton Independents candidate.

 

Southampton Independents Campaigners During the 2017 General Election

 

That Park and Ride later became operative, running - not entirely coincidentally - from near to the new Lidl on Brownhill Way. 

But this was not the end of the campaign. Southampton's residents, the quality of our City's air and visitors to Southampton needed a Park and Ride. 

The regular chaos on Southampton's roads proved how badly the Park and Ride campaign was needed.

 

Keeping Up The Pressure in 2025 

Pope's most recent action on the Park and Ride was when he spoke up, not as a councillor but as a concerned campaigner, on behalf of local residents at the Council's Planning Committee to object to the lack of parking in a proposal to redevelop the derelict Bridge Tavern on Coxford Road, very close to the Southampton General Hospital. 

He mentioned the park and ride when he spoke at the public meeting, and in a statement given to all councillors at the meeting, kept up the pressure:

"Where is Southampton's park and ride for the general public? The one for the staff is a start, but it isn't anywhere near enough. The hospital parking is still a massive problem for Shirley, Coxford and Maybush residents. Until the park and ride is there, the hospital will still be impacting on residents." 

And now, the Park and Ride is finally here!

This is what Southampton Independents and Andrew Pope do - deliver for Southampton.

 

 

Pope Calls For Captain Chaos Councillor Keogh To Be Sacked - Yet Labour's Leader of the Council Defends Him

 

Captain of Chaos Councillor Eamonn Keogh
Photo: Southampton City Council

In mid-February, founder of Southampton Independents and former Independent Councillor Andrew Pope called in a letter published by the Daily Echo for Councillor Eamonn Keogh to be sacked by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Lorna Fielker.

This call from outside the Council sparked calls from so-called "opposition" councillors to actually provide some opposition, and have called for Keogh to resign.

Incredibly, as a result of the pressure from outside the Council and inside it, Lorna Fielker has defended Eamonn Keogh and the disastrous Portswood Broadway changes, saying:

Councillor Lorna Fielker
Leader of Southampton City Council
Photo: Southampton City Council

"We understand that change can be challenging, which is why the bus gate project is a trial. 

The council is closely monitoring its impact by collecting data, actively listening to the community, and making adjustments to ease congestion and improve road safety where concerns arise.

"Throughout the trial, Councillor Keogh has been regularly visiting the area, holding formal meetings with residents and the local school to hear concerns firsthand, and he will continue to do this.

"These insights will help inform decisions as the trial progresses."

Andrew Pope responds:

"I am pleased that Conservative councillors have finally provided some opposition. When I too was in opposition on the Council as an Independent, their opposition was regularly supine. And even now, they regularly agree with Labour.

Labour or Tory, same old story, Southampton people say.

Whether sacked or resigned, it doesn't really matter how he goes, Councillor Keogh must go, for the good of our City, its residents and businesses.

Remember that Councillor Lorna Fielker as Leader of the Council decides who is in her Cabinet, and it is Labour Councillors who decided that she should be Leader, when Satvir Kaur resigned having brought the Council to its knees with her Labour councillors supporting her.

The public did not elect Keogh to his disastrous tenure, and what is in fact a dangerous tenure. 

It's the Labour Party and Cllr Fielker that has put him as Cabinet Member for Transport, and which is keeping him there. 

That is how undemocratic the Cabinet and Leader system is. It prioritises party over people. Other cities like Bristol and Sheffield have brought in a Modern Committee System, that priorities people over parties. Ward councillors have more of a say, instead of political parties. That is how democracy is supposed to work, but Labour don't want that. They didn't want it in Bristol or Sheffield, either.

Labour's Eamonn Keogh has caused chaos across the City, especially in Portswood. He has failed to listen to residents of Shirley and Freemantle over the 20mph signs, and to remove them.

Cllr Keogh has created chaos in the City Centre, and shown his incompetence at the basics, as reported by the Echo, Keogh couldn't even ensure spare parts were in stock to fix our roads, leading to even more delays.

So it is very worrying that Lorna Fielker lacks the authority as Leader to make a decision for the benefit of our City, to sack Eamonn Keogh from the Cabinet.

Surely she realises that she might salvage some credibility for the Council, which Labour has led to bankruptcy and a shameful reputation amongst local government officers in Hampshire.

Or perhaps it is too late for Labour and they are hanging on by their finger nails, losing by-election after by-election until their inevitable demise under a Labour Government.

There will be elections in May 2026, and the residents of Southampton might decide that it's time for Lorna Fielker, and her Labour failures, to go from the Council." 

 

Southampton FC Fans On Away Days - We Have Safe Standing, But Not All Clubs Have It Though...

 

Southampton Independents Andrew Pope
In the New Safe Standing Northam Stand Pre-Season 2024/25

Leader of the Southampton safe standing campaign Andrew Pope says:

Andrew Pope at St Marys in 2018

"As I said in the Daily Echo, the safe standing at St Marys Stadium has been a resounding success, despite the abject performances on the pitch this season. It benefits 7,000 fans in the Northam stand. And it benefits 3,000 away fans. When Saints fans travel to away matches, they do not always have safe standing. Because even now, not all grounds have it.

Throughout the seven-year campaign, I regularly said to people that things only change if you stand up and fight. If you just whinge, roll your eyes and say it's terrible, and do nothing, and it won't change, surely things won't change. Fans of other clubs are having their own battles with their own clubs over safe standing.

Campaigns are hard and take a lot of work. The safe standing campaign took seven years and involved me working with Saints fans locally and nationally, and fans of other clubs, manufacturers, officials, directors, councillors, members of Parliament and members of Government.

This campaign was very difficult but I believed it was badly needed, and nobody else was providing the leadership in Southampton. Not the directors and chairmen, and no fans that I was aware of. So I did.

The law had to be changed. Southampton FC chairmen, owners and directors in the past tried to ignore the fans and the campaign. And they are doing it again now with my new campaign for better hand rails at SMS.

But in the end, they had to listen to my campaign, and they called me in and asked me what I thought of their plans. And they did listen to my answers and act on them.

It was a fight, which I won. Still, even now, fans of other clubs are still having their own fights with their own clubs.

Fans of other clubs have got in touch with me, to ask for some tips on how to make it happen. One of them has been Stand United, the campaign for safe standing at Bramall Lane, home of Sheffield United. They are still waiting for safe standing, and fighting to make it happen.

They've produced an excellent "Safe Standing Tracker" website, which they maintain. It shows which clubs have it, and which clubs do not. Things are changing because fans are making it happen. It's only when football fans work together that change happens.

The Plymouth Argyle Fans Forum on Thursday gave a firm commitment to safe standing, but no timeline. A Plymouth fan who is a close friend, told me about it. It's there on their video.

Safe standing talk, but not enough action or firm dates, was what I was faced with many times. Things only happen when the pressure is increased, which I did, using experience.

Why keep track of what is happening elsewhere?

Because Saints fans will benefit when they cross our great country to follow Southampton, whether in the Premier League or Championship. Away sections are changing to safe standing, so it is in our interests that I am in touch with their local campaigners and help them to bring it in. So if asked, I will continue to do that.

Meanwhile I continue the campaign for better hand rails and better safety at St Marys Stadium. If you want to help, get in touch. I already have some quotes from fans, but welcome more."

 

Former Councillor Andrew Pope
speaking to BBC South Today

The Southampton Independents Logo

We Listened to Portswood Residents Who Saw The Portswood Broadway Disaster Coming and Acted to Oppose It

 

Southampton Independents Letter in Daily Echo 13th February 2025

Labour pretended to listen, ... then Labour's Councillor Eamonn Keogh went ahead with it anyway!

Councillor Eamonn Keogh
Photo: Southampton City Council

Captain of chaos Councillor Keogh needs to go, Southampton people say. The Leader of the Council should sack him, we say.

The full text of Andrew Pope's letter that was printed in yesterday's Daily Echo is below.

We asked for people to stand up in 2022 and in 2023. as reported by the Echo then and in the letters we printed and volunteered to deliver. We contacted the residents associations, and businesses, too.

Portswood people need to stand for Council as Independent candidates, because the political parties let you down - Labour, Green, Tory, Lib Dem - they all put themselves first,  instead of the people of Southampton.

Once again, we will be looking for those people to stand in next year's Southampton City Council elections. And we need people to help contact residents in Portswood.

Get in touch if you want to do it. We will give you advice and support.

 

Former Independent Councillor Andrew Pope

"Disturbed but not surprised

I am disturbed, but not surprised to hear of the unfolding disaster at the Council's Portswood Broadway changes.

It was foreseen by residents and businesses that I spoke to back in 2022 and 2023, and reported by the Echo.

The Council has already tried to paper over the cracks and the out-of-control Cabinet Member for Transport, Labour Councillor Eamonn Keogh, is deaf to the dangers.

Keogh has already caused chaos across Shirley and in the City Centre, making promises to remove 20mph signs, but they are still there.

Keogh needs to be removed from his position by the Leader of the Council Councillor Lorna Fielker, but the talent pool within the Labour Group is very limited, if not non-existent.

The bankruptcy of the Council and crackpot policies in the City prove Labour's inadequacy.

Labour already lost one Portswood seat on the Council after our campaign with Portswood residents against their crazy proposals.

Labour lost the by-election in Shirley too, with residents unhappy about transport policies. I know because I listened to them on their doorsteps.

Do Labour want to lose more Council seats because of their greenie fanatics and ignorance of the vast majority of residents and businesses in the area?

If they do, they are going the right way about it.

Andrew Pope
Southampton Independents"

Did You Know That Your Council Leaders Are Doing Deals About How You Are Governed?

 

"Devolution" the vampire coming out of the coffin
Image: Giphy.com

And cancelling elections, claiming all of it as "democracy"?

We do. And we've been acting to challenge them. Like a vampire, it's come out of the coffin...

And it threatens to bleed you dry, of your money and your voice. 

Since last year, Southampton Independents campaigner Andrew Pope has been contacting the leaders of Southampton, Portsmouth, Hampshire and Isle of Wight councils, plus others, to ask them their positions on so-called "devolution" as being promoted by the Labour Government.

Their answers have been highly disappointing. Instead of standing up to the Labour Government, they are giving in. 

If this all seems familiar, that's because it is. The vampire is rising.

Back in 2016, Southampton Independents defeated previous proposals, called "devolution", to change how Hampshire is governed, and we called for a Referendum. We achieved this by working with any and all political parties and those of no political party.

We stood up for residents who were being ignored by the Southampton Labour and Southampton Conservative MPs and councillors. Our councillor Andrew Pope was the only Southampton councillor opposing it, but others across the Region also opposed it.

Former Leader of Hampshire County Council Roy Perry said that a stake needed to be driven into the heart of the Solent Devolution Deal.

It appeared to be dead. Yet we hear that like a vampire, it it rising out of the coffin. 

The Council leaders of Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight councils are having conversations behind closed doors about a new devolution deal in the Solent area.

And by rolling over to the Labour diktats, they are complicit in cancelling elections, as decided by the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner this week.

Our position has not changed. Andrew Pope says:

"We demand a Referendum for Southampton residents, before any change to how we are governed.

Thet is true democracy, not deals done behind closed doors with elections benig cancelled." 

In response to the announcement of cancelling elections in May for a large portion of the country, six County areas will lose the right to vote on the performance of their Councillors at a time when both Conservative and Labour are at a low ebb, Councillor Marianne Overton MBE, Leader of the Independent Network of Councillors across England and Wales, said:

“Cancelling elections is denying residents the democratic opportunity to vote. And the excuse? Local Government Re-organisation for which there is no mandate!

“These actions were not on the general election manifestoes and no resident referendum.

“There is still no clarity on how the cost of reorganisation will be met beyond asset stripping existing councils. This will move democracy further away from residents, putting power into the hands of the few, not the many.

“In making these announcements the Government are disregarding the views of local people – both residents and the district councillors who have been elected to represent their residents.“

If you want to find out more and to get involved and to help fight back, please get in touch.here.

 

 

Labour Goes Ahead with Portswood Broadway Disaster - Despite Massive Resident and Business Opposition

 

Listening to Southampton residents

The Labour-run City Council is ploughing ahead with its disastrous Portswood Broadway plan, despite massive resident and business opposition. 

Back in 2022, former Southampton Independents City councillor Andrew Pope listened to residents and businesses, after speaking to them on their doorsteps and in their shops.

And it is proving to be the disaster that was feared. Bluestar, the bus company, has supported the bus gate.

The Daily Echo is reporting:

"A Southampton mum has told of the terrifying moments her five-month-old baby was nearly crushed by a driver who mounted the pavement on the way to school."

During the "trial" (read: fait accomplit), drivers would not be fined, say the Council, who are in denial about the safety of it all:

"Drivers who ignore a newly implemented bus gate will not be hit with a fine, the council has confirmed."

The knock-on effects that worried residents and businesses, and were foreseen, are happening.

And then the Council has changed its mind already. The Council's warning is in full below*:

"Drivers who ignore a controversial road closure will be fined from next week – two weeks after the scheme was introduced."

Andrew says: 

Former Councillor Andrew Pope at the Civic Centre

"The Council has already u-turned and the out-of-control Cabinet Member for Transport, Labour Councillor Eamonn Keogh, is deaf to the dangers.

Keogh has already caused chaos across Shirley and in the City Centre, making promises to remove 20mph signs, but they are still there.

Keogh needs to be removed from his position by the Leader of the Council Councillor Lorna Fielker, but the talent pool within the Labour Group is very limited, if not non-existent.

The bankruptcy of the Council and crackpot policies in the City prove Labour's inadequacy.

Labour already lost one seat on the Council after our campaign with Portswood residents against their crazy proposals.

Labour lost the by-election in Shirley too, with residents unhappy about transport policies. I know because I listened to them on their doorsteps.

Do Labour want to lose more Council seats because of their greenie fanatics and ignorance of the vast majority of residents and businesses in the area?

If they do, they are going the right way about it."

*Southampton City Council:

" Camera enforcement of the bus/taxi/cycle only section on Portswood Road will begin on Monday 10 February 2025 📢
While the restriction is in operation only authorised vehicles are allowed, including:
Buses 🚌
Taxis 🚕
Cyclists, legal E-scooters and E-bikes 🚴‍♂️
Emergency vehicles 🚑
Any other service vehicle carrying out a statutory duty e.g. gritting, refuse collection 🚛
Other vehicles that drive through the restriction will receive a Warning Notice, and on their second contravention they will receive a Penalty Charge Notice 🚗
Warning Letters and PCN’s will be sent through the post to the Registered Keeper of the vehicle.  To allow enough time between a Warning Notice being processed and received by the driver, there will be period of approximately two weeks after a Warning Notice being sent and a PCN being issued"