Those of us who have watched the development of ‘the Borough First’, will be unsurprised by news of a breakaway ‘Independent Group’ at Westminster. Set up as a values-led organisation, the view of the so called ‘Gang of Ten' is that the political system is beyond repair and none of the main traditional parties--Labour, the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats--are capable of fixing it. In her blog, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg suggests that “this splintering might

As the English author, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, wrote, “the pen is mightier than the sword”. Some words have sparked social change—such as the abolition of slavery or the rights of women to vote—by challenging conventional wisdom and winning hearts and minds to a better way of life. Others, however, are forgotten the moment they’re uttered. What makes the difference? Many a time I have mused that I cannot remember my 7 years of French from school, yet, play me a song from th

The Oxford Living Dictionary defines the heart as “a hollow, muscular organ that pumps blood through the circulatory system by rhythmic contraction and dilation”. It’s not a particularly romantic notion, I’ll admit! Of course, it’s more than that—the heart applies to communities as well as individual people or animals. Just as we can’t live without a beating heart, a pulse of life, nor can our communities. In days gone by, the Church or the Pub were often the heart of a c

This is a question I have often been asked when speaking to residents, potential tBf candidates and various residents’ groups to explain why ‘the Borough first’ was formed. Whether you are concerned about: · truly affordable housing · homelessness · parking · education · Lowbrook Academy Funding · the vulnerable · tower blocks in Maidenhead · a failing Borough Local Plan · blocking of residents ·