There are signs of an emerging political tyranny at Essex County Council that should disturb everyone who cares about the future of local democracy.

Essex Conservatives won 80 per cent of the seats on the county council in June, despite the Liberal Democrat gains in Colchester and elsewhere in Essex and the massive losses by Labour.

This means we are now the only opposition group on Essex County Council.

However, not content with closing our schools in south Colchester, when more are needed in north Colchester, they have now set about trying to completely cripple any opposition.

Now the ruling Tories intend to abolish the opposition group’s political assistant and only full-time member of staff, an officer who researches information for councillors to enable them to do their job effectively on behalf of Essex taxpayers.

However, Conservative councillors, under the leadership of Lord Hanningfield, will have over a dozen people working directly for them, costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

This is not about money.

It is about democracy versus autocracy.

It is about transparency versus secrecy.

It is about the ability of local people to know that a large political majority, which our distorted electoral system has produced, can be extremely dangerous.

Martin Goss
Dickenson Road
Colchester