Our Campaign Wins For You

Southampton Independents has campaigned on a wide range of local and regional issues. We listened to you and we acted on local residents' concerns. Some of our campaign wins are below, but there have been many more:

1. preventing charging vehicle users in a Clean Air Zone for Southampton by calling for a Referendum on any such scheme. The scheme was then scrapped, in contrast to other parts of the country including London and Bristol. Southampton Independents protected our City's residents and businesses, and we have been thanked for it.
   
2. exposing appalling failures in tower block fire safety before and after the Redbridge Towers fire and the Grenfell Tower tragedy, forcing the City Council to install sprinklers and improve fire safety in the Council tower blocks. Sprinklers save lives and property, and they have done so, for example in a fire at Millbrook Towers.
   
3. successfully killing off the failed Solent Devolution Deal and Labour and Conservative plans for an Elected Mayor, by working cross-party and with other independent colleagues across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. After our successful campaign, the proposals were dead.
   
4. exposing and killing the wrong plans for housing development and re-generation by the City Council, by listening and acting with residents. Labour councillors even got booed at a public meeting, after we encouraged residents to turn up to pack the venue.
   
5. exposing the misuse of City Council finances and corruption including the tens of millions of pounds of public money spent on the Council's Arts Complex, getting the issue on the agenda of the City Council elections and front page of the Daily Echo. The Leader of the Council, Labour's Simon Letts, said that he didn't care why it was over budget. He lost his Council seat shortly after in the local elections.
   
6. winning a seven year campaign to get Safe Standing installed at Southampton FC's St. Mary's Stadium for the 2024-25 Season, despite fierce resistance from former directors and chairmen of the Football Club and unwarranted criticism from a minority of fans.
   

 

Southampton Independents was co-founded and has been mostly led by former Independent councillor Andrew Pope. Andrew works with other local residents on the issues that matter to them.

Andrew Pope on BBC South TV Opposing An Elected Mayor
Image: Southampton Independents

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