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| Andrew Pope Letter Daily Echo 6th Feb 2026 on Shirley ward by-election |
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| Andrew Pope speaking to BBC when a Councillor |
Andrew Pope is our candidate for the Shirley 2026 By-election for Southampton City Council. The Daily Echo has published his letter today.
Andrew is standing under the Independent Network banner. As Andrew explains in the letter, the Network is a group of councillors and campaigners that are independent of the big political parties.
He is referring to an article in the Daily Echo by Local Democracy Reporter Jason Lewis - funded by the BBC which is required to be impartial - about the resignation of the Liberal Democrat who has caused the by-election.
Despite standing in the last by-election in October 2024, and being active in the Shirley ward, neither Andrew Pope nor Southampton Independents were contacted for their views. Only the big political parties appear in the article.
This is unfair.
So Andrew contacted the Daily Echo and Jason Lewis. They've published his letter in today's printed paper.
The original wording of the letter is below:
"This is an unnecessary by-election in Shirley ward, caused by another big political party, this time the Liberal Democrats, letting Southampton 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. And by working with them, I've helped them to make their area better.
Labour or Tory, same old story, I said, and residents agreed. Now add the Lib Dems! Their councillor was elected in 2024 but only lasted 15 months. He quit, causing this by-election. It could have been held in May, and saved the Council money and residents time. But the Lib Dems don't care about Council finances - their laughable alternative budget proved that, advocating more borrowing when the Labour-run Council and Tory/Lib Dem governments have brought Council finances to its knees.
Residents told me they wanted me to stand again next time. I promised to. So as the election is happening anyway, I am standing again.
The big political parties were asked for their views about this by-election. Although I stood last time and have been active in the Shirley ward since, I was not asked for my views. It appears that no update to the previous article is to be published, or article giving my views.
So I am writing in the hope that the Echo will treat me fairly as an Independent Network candidate. The Network is a political party, and a network of councillors and campaigners. It's independent of the big political parties, because people have had enough of them."
