Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) is a

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

political party in the United Kingdom. The party was launched in 2014, and formed from a number of residents groups in the area. The party is based in the

Uttlesford Uttlesford is a local government district in Essex, England. Its council is based in the market town of Saffron Walden. At the 2011 Census, the population of the district was 79,443. Other notable settlements include Great Dunmow, Elmdon, S ...

administrative district in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

and promotes a localist agenda that seeks to give residents a greater say in the future of their district. Residents for Uttlesford has elected representation at multiple levels of local government:

Uttlesford District Council Uttlesford is a local government district in Essex, England. Its council is based in the market town of Saffron Walden. At the 2011 Census, the population of the district was 79,443. Other notable settlements include Great Dunmow, Elmdon, Stebb ...

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...

and various town and parish councils, including the councils for both towns in Uttlesford,

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

and

Great Dunmow Great Dunmow is a historic market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is situated on the north of the A120 road, approximately midway between Bishop's Stortford and Braintree, five miles east of London Stans ...

Background

For the 2013 UK local elections, Uttlesford residents stood two of their own candidates on an

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 ...

platform. Both were elected - John Lodge to

and Joanna Parry to Uttlesford District Council. Following this, in 2014 the local residents groups formed their own party, Residents for Uttlesford, so that they could more easily stand a larger number of candidates across the electoral District. A number of existing councillors crossed the aisle to join the new party when it was launched. Residents for Uttlesford cite other successful local independent political parties in the UK as the inspiration for their model, including the

Loughton Residents Association Loughton Residents Association is a residents association and local political party formed (as the Central Loughton Residents' Association) in 1981, and based in Loughton, Essex, United Kingdom. LRA has always sought to influence events by putt ...

in Essex,

Residents Associations of Epsom and Ewell The Residents Associations of Epsom and Ewell is a local political party in the borough of Epsom and Ewell Epsom and Ewell () is a local government district with borough status and unparished area in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Ep ...

in Surrey, and Independents for Frome with their Flatpack Democracy model.

Electoral history

Residents for Uttlesford fought their first local elections in May 2015, with candidates standing for seats in both Uttlesford District Council and Saffron Walden Town Council. They won a majority of the seats on the town council and became the opposition in the district council. A by-election was held on 16 February 2017 in the ward of

Elsenham Elsenham is a village and civil parish in north-west Essex in eastern England. Its neighbouring towns include Bishop's Stortford, Saffron Walden and Stansted Mountfitchet. History Elsenham is recorded in the ''Domesday Book'' of 1086 as ''Alsen ...

and

Henham __NOTOC__ Henham, or Henham-on-the-Hill is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The village is situated north from London Stansted Airport. The parish includes the hamlets of Little Henham and Pledgdon Green ...

of the Uttlesford District Council, following the resignation of the two councillors from that ward who were members of the Liberal Democrats. Residents for Uttlesford stood candidates for the first time in that ward and won a landslide victory, with 60% of the votes cast. In the 2019 Uttlesford District Council election, the party gained control of Uttlesford District Council after winning 26 out of 39 of the available seats. They also maintained control of the Saffron Walden Town Council, winning 15 out of the 16 seats. The remaining seat was won by the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

, whose candidate did not defeat Residents for Uttlesford, but was elected as the seventh councillor for the seven-seat ward of Saffron Walden Shire, in which only six Residents for Uttlesford candidates stood. In October 2019, three Residents for Uttlesford district councillors serving in the cabinet, including two who also sat on Saffron Walden Town Council, left the party to join the Green Party. In the 2021 Essex County Council election, Residents for Uttlesford gained two of the four Essex County Council seats in Uttlesford from the Conservatives.

Stansted airport expansion

Uttlesford District Council, under Residents for Uttlesford leadership and an all-party supported Climate Emergency policy, refused planning permission for the controversial expansion of

Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...

to 43 million passengers per year, which was later overturned on appeal. Planning permission had previously been approved by the planning committee of the previous Conservative council administration. After many widespread concerns were expressed about the decision, that administration failed to issue the formal planning approval notice before the council changed political composition in May 2019. The planning committee of the new Uttlesford administration reviewed the planning application again and overturned the previous approval. The council's refusal was then overturned again in 2021 by the Planning Inspectorate, who awarded costs to the airport's owners after a High Court appeal was rejected.

References

External links

*
Epsom & Ewell Residents AssociationsLoughton Residents AssociationIndependents for Frome
{{Political parties in the United Kingdom Uttlesford Local government in Essex Politics of Essex Locally based political parties in England Political parties established in 2014 2014 establishments in England