Over the border: History made as East Herts Council elect Green Party leader for first time
General / Thu 18th May 2023 at 03:41pm
BEN Crystall is the new leader of East Hertfordshire District Council after the recent local elections where the Greens became the largest party.
His election is part of a joint administration between the Greens and the Liberal Democrats, marking the end of 28 years of Conservative control.
In a tweet, Mr Crystall said he was “incredibly proud”.
East Herts District Council includes the county town of Hertford and nearby Ware, plus Bishop’s Stortford and other towns and villages in acres of Hertfordshire countryside.
Before the 4 May elections, it was under Conservative control, with the Tories having 39 of the 50 seats.
Now the Greens have 19 seats, up from the two they won in 2019, with the Tories on 16 and the Liberal Democrats on 10.
Mr Crystall, who represents the Bengeo ward, said: “I am confident that the Greens and the Liberal Democrats, working together in this joint administration, will provide strong and effective leadership for our communities.
“Our combined efforts will navigate the challenges ahead, deliver on residents’ priorities, and strive towards a better, more sustainable future for all in East Herts.”
Mark Gough
2023-05-18 16:24:14
Oh good grief! I can't think of anything worse! It'll be a total basket case like Brighton within the year!
James Leppard
2023-05-18 16:27:22
The Greens in Harlow have highly vociferous in their opposition to the HGGT project, particularly the proposed second Stort crossing at Riverway. It will be most interesting to see how their colleagues just across the Stort address this issue. I am not saying that they won’t seek to intervene, merely that I look forward to their response.
Kim Oconnor
2023-05-18 17:46:07
Why will it be interesting James, the deal has been signed and ceiled. the councils and developers have won. But labour' and conservatives will be known for this awful destruction of the river stort valley.
Nostradamus
2023-05-18 18:02:16
James all 6000 residents who signed the petition against the raised road bisecting and ruining the ecology of the Stort River Valley were astounded at the incompetence and gullibility of Harlow Council to back a scheme that both the Environment Agency and hggt's own consultants said was flawed and that would increase congestion and the risk and frequency of flooding and sewage discharges into Harlow homes and the River (an ecologically valuable chalk stream). Even Robert Halfon said they should go back to the drawing board. Other options were available but ignored. Harlow Council was sold a pig in a poke.
Nicholas Taylor
2023-05-18 18:27:34
The Tories and Labour in Harlow ignore residents at their peril. What has happened at East Herts is astonishing not just because of the Greens taking control of the Council. In Harlow the turnout was about 25% whereas in East Herts it was 34.4% and in the Ward won by Ben Crystall it was 42.60%! He polled over three times as many votes than that of two of the Conservative candidates. As more and more people realise that local politicians have been pulling the wool over residents eyes (the new hospital, Public Heath England coming to Harlow, stopping development to the west of Harlow, dozens of trees being felled to make way for a bus route, millions of pounds spent building a new bus station, many high rise flat blocks in the town centre etc etc) the same thing will happen as it has at East Herts and other towns across the country.
Bruce Downey
2023-05-19 05:47:53
Greens = One trick pony..
adam
2023-05-19 08:37:03
This is going to be hilarious, greens are basically communists
Kim Oconnor
2023-05-19 09:12:41
Spot on Nicholas. Every word of it.
AB
2023-05-19 13:20:11
A warm welcome to the Greens in East Herts, hopefully it's not too late for the Harlow Orbital Estates and Stort Valley destruction to be tackled.
Kim Oconnor
2023-05-20 19:03:11
AB, I think we are all awaiting that .x
10 Comments for Over the border: History made as East Herts Council elect Green Party leader for first time: