The Alliance of Local Living (ALL) is a minor

localist Localism describes a range of political philosophies which prioritize the local. Generally, localism supports local production and Local purchasing, consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture ...

party and political group based in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, with separate branches in the two authorities, ALL for

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 2019 by the merger of the areas that were previously administered by the unitary authorities of Bournem ...

and ALL for

. The BCP office is based in

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

, whilst the Dorset office is based in Weymouth. The party has five councillors in total, one on BCP Council and the remaining four on Dorset Council.

History

Background

Prior to 2019, Dorset was divided into three authorities, with Bournemouth and Poole each constituting

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

, with the remainder of the county as a

two-tier system A two-tier system is a type of payroll system in which one group of workers receives lower wages and/or employee benefits than another.Sherman, Arthur W.; Bohlander, George W.; and Snell, Scott. ''Managing Human Sesources.'' Cincinnati, Ohio: South- ...

, under

Dorset County Council Dorset County Council (DCC) was the county council for the county of Dorset in England. It provided the upper tier of local government, below which were district councils, and town and parish councils. The county council had 46 elected council ...

. However, in 2017 the government supported plans to reorganise Dorset into two unitary authorities, with the existing unitary authorities of

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

and

to merge with the district of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, and the remaining districts to form a new Dorset Council. Legislation for this was passed in 2018 by Parliament. Two separate groups, Independents for Dorset and Three Towns Together subsequently formed in the two unitary authorities, with the intention of supporting localist

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidates. In November 2018, the two groups joined to form the Alliance for Local Living, with the former group ultimately changing its name to ALL for Dorset within ALL.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

In October 2018 founders Felicity Rice and Michael Hancock launched the group as the Alliance for Local Living in preparation of the 2019 Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council election; whilst organising under the banner of ALL, it was planned for candidates to stand as independents, and be free of political whips if elected. Early liaisons were made with the

Poole People Party The Party for Poole People (known simply as Poole People) is a movement and local political party in Poole, Dorset, England. Defining itself as Nonpartisanism, neither left or right wing, the party has stood in elections for the former Poole Boro ...

, a similarly localist group founded in 2010 which had councillors as part of Poole district council. On 1 April 2019, ALL was registered with the electoral commission, with fourteen names and three emblems filed for ballot papers. Four candidates were due to stand for ALL in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, but due to the timing of the election and the registration of the party just a month before, two candidates (Michael Hancock for the Parkstone Ward and Martin Smalley for the Alderney & Bourne Valley Ward) stood as independents, with the remaining two (Felicity Rice for the Oakdale Ward and Claire Crescent for the Alderney & Bourne Valley Ward) standing as "Alliance for Local Living Independent Candidate". In the 2019 inaugural election for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole only party leader Felicity Rice won a seat in Oakdale ward. Within the BCP Council, ALL Councillor Felicity Rice joined with the then seven Poole People Candidates to form the Poole People and ALL Political Group; this group of eight was joint third-largest, alongside the Christchurch Independents. Subsequently, on 21 May, a Unity Alliance administration took control of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, with a coalition lead by the Liberal Democrats comprising the Christchurch Independents group, Poole People,

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

, the Greens, ALL and independents. However, in 2020, two Poole People councillors left both the party and one left the administration, alongside one Christchurch Independent dying and another leaving the group. As such the Unity Alliance was left without a majority, leading to a vote of no confidence which resulted in a tie due to one abstention. However, subsequently a Liberal Democrat councillor died, and the remaining former-Poole People councillor also left the alliance, leaving it with a minority; a second vote of no confidence was held in September, which passed and thus removed Vikki Slade as leader. A meeting of the council was scheduled for 1 October in order to elect a new leader of the council; Conservative leader on the council Drew Mellor was nominated by his deputy Phillip Broadhead, stating that the council "needed a reset", whilst Christchurch Independent Lesley Dedman nominated Vikki Slade. with Conservative Group Leader Drew Mellor subsequently elected leader of the council, forming a new minority administration. In a secret ballot, Mellor received 40 votes for leader, whilst Slade received 33 votes, with a single abstention, with Mellor duly elected leader of the council. As such, the Alliance for Local Living currently is opposition in BCP Council. In October 2022, leader Felicity Rice was charged with wilful obstruction of a highway in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

while protesting alongside

Just Stop Oil Just Stop Oil is an environmental activist group in the United Kingdom. Using civil resistance and direct action, the group aims for the British government to commit to halting new fossil fuel licensing and production. It launched on 14 Febr ...

Dorset Council

In January 2019 a meeting was held in Dorchester to launch the group, which included as a speaker Peter MacFayden, who helped launch Independents for Frome, a similar localist group in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, alongside representatives from the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole ALL and other localist groups. Whilst no candidates stood in Dorset council as ALL Candidates, ALL for Dorset encouraged residents to stand as independent candidates under the joint banner. Sixteen candidates stood for either or both Dorset Council and local Parish elections. Four independents were ultimately elected to Dorset Council in the 2019 Dorset Council election, subsequently sitting as the Alliance for Local Living Group. Aside from the ALL Councillors, the Conservatives won 43 of the 42 seats required for a majority, with the Liberal Democrats winning 29, the Greens 4, and Labour 2; as such, alongside the Green Party, the Alliance for Local Living Group is the joint third biggest group on the council.

Currently sitting councillors

The party currently has five councillors, one in BCP Council, and four in Dorset Council. In

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is a unitary local authority for the district of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in England that came into being on 1 April 2019. It was created from the areas that were previously administered by ...

, the councillor Felicity Rice sits as Alliance for Local Living Independent Candidate as part of the Poole People and ALL Group, and in Dorset Council the four members sit as the Alliance for Local Living Group {, class="wikitable" !Name !Ward !Notes , - ! colspan="3" , Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council , - , Felicity Rice , Oakdale , Vice-chair of BCP Transportation Advisory Group , - ! colspan="3" , Dorset Council , - , Susan Cocking , Portland , , - , Les Fry , Dorchester West , Vice-chair of Dorset Council Place and Resources Overview Committee , - , Rob Hughes , Portland , Vice Chair of Dorset Council Harbours Committee , - , John Worth , Chickerell ,

References