Anthony Owens - Reform Northampton South Branch Chair and candidate for Far Cotton, Delapre and Briar Hill
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00:00Of course, well my name is Anthony Owens, I'm the Northampton South Branch Chair.
00:05I'm also one of the candidates today in Far Cotton, Delapree and Briar Hill. Some people
00:12might remember me that I also stood in the general election last year. And how are you feeling today
00:18as we approach the results starting to come in from this local election? I know the hard work
00:25that our candidates have put in. In Northampton South we've got 20 candidates and they've put in
00:32days of canvassing. They've been out in the rain, they've been out in the sun. In fact,
00:37you might notice I've got a bit of a suntan myself. We've all worked extremely hard to where we are
00:43today and I think that's going to reflect in the voting results today. And in terms of your own
00:51ward, what's the response been like from people that you've met while out and about?
00:56Generally, it's been really positive. I haven't been subjected to any vile abuse, racism or anything
01:01like that with discriminatory behaviour. I think people have actually realised that we are everyday
01:06people who just want to make a difference in Northamptonshire. So it has been a positive
01:13experience for me. Far different from the general election, I may say.
01:16And would you say that you're feeling hopeful this afternoon about the outcome of this local election?
01:22So I set a goal that I wanted us to try, if we could, to get a majority party within West Northamptons
01:31Council. And it's an ambitious goal, you know, but I think we should always try and achieve high.
01:37And I did that because I want to make real change. I want our party and I know our candidates all want
01:42positive change in Northamptons, particularly West Northamptons Council. And you can't do that if
01:49you're an independent or as a minor or shadow party. So that was my goal. I hope that I achieve it
01:57and that the party achieves it and that we can make positive inroads to make West Northamptonshire
02:03better for residents. And if the reform party does achieve the majority in West Northamptonshire
02:08Council, what would be your priorities moving forward when you when you look at the area as a whole?
02:14Well, I think it's first of all, we need to sort out where the money's going. We need to find out
02:19where the money's going and if it's been utilised in the appropriate way. The Conservative-led Council,
02:25Conservative-led Council in West Northamptonshire, is sitting on about 587 million pounds worth of debt,
02:31which is costing the local taxpayers about £64,000 daily interest. And we know that's a massive
02:40burden on the council. So what we need to do is we've already said reform as a party is going to
02:46bring in auditors to audit the whole of West Northamptons Council to find out the best way we
02:51can make savings in the council so that we can actually deliver for residents. And in terms of
02:56the national trends that we've seen so far today, why do you think people across the country, but
03:02also here in West Northamptonshire, why are people calling for change?
03:05I think because it's long overdue. For the last hundred years, we've had a two-party system
03:12between the Conservatives and Labour. And I have to be honest with you, I think they've got complacent.
03:18The reality is, is that our country is in decline. And if we don't do something very quickly,
03:24it's not going to stop. And just looking at, for example, bin collection, say for example,
03:32you live in Northampton, at the moment, it's two weekly bin collection. So they're in a consultation,
03:37West Northamptonshire Council, to make it once every three weeks. Now, I don't know about you,
03:41but as a, as a father, family of five, we barely managed to keep it in the bin, in one bin, for a
03:48week and a half. If they do that for three weeks, which there's no way it's going to stay in the bin.
03:53So of course they'll go into bags, the bags will then have, get ripped open by, by vermin,
03:58things like rats, mice, squirrels. It will, it will cause a public health hazard. And when we've
04:05got to that stage where we're talking about, we're going to risk people's health above trying to make
04:10sure people are safe. I think people see that and they see that the people of reform, all we want to
04:16do is just try and make it so that we deliver services and that people get a better country to live in.