Hear from Ruth Dombey, leader of Liberal Democrat-run Sutton Council, where Liberal Democrats have been running the council for 35 years.
All over the country, there are hundreds of thousands of people living in areas where Liberal Democrats are running the council and are in charge of public money and budgets of more than £2bn.
From Cumbria to Cornwall, from York to Eastbourne, to Bath to Bedford. In Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, in Devon and the Midlands, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Hampshire and London, and many many more places as well.
Liberal Democrats are working hard to show their residents what it’s like to live in a place where our values are put into practice every day.
Liberal Democrat councillors represent many different communities across the country, with their own distinct identities, values and concerns, but we all have something in common.
We all put our communities at the heart of everything we do.
Being a councillor is not just about collecting the rubbish, cutting the grass, or fixing the potholes.
It’s about bringing jobs and prosperities to the area. It’s about creating exciting town centres that people want to visit. It’s about bringing people and organisations together to tackle the climate emergency.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has shown us like never before the vital role that local councils play in all of our lives.
When the government failed to provide PPE, we stepped up.
When the government failed to protect people living in care homes, we stepped in.
When the government wasted billions of pounds on a failed Track and Trace system, we took over.
In Sutton, we are one of only three councils that still provides Meals on Wheels, because we know how important it is that people can live independently In their own homes.
We are one of the few places in the country where the council directly employs specialised admiral nurses to support people living with dementia and their families.
And together with the local NHS, we’ve placed a mental health counsellor in nearly every school in our borough, to give our young people the emotional resilience they need early on. We put that in place well before the pandemic hit, and as our schools open up again it is going to be a lifeline for so many young people.
I am fiercely proud of the work Liberal Democrat councils and councillors are doing all over the country. You should be too. Here’s a short video with some of our inspirational Council leaders, to give you an idea of what we do and how it’s making a difference.
