Residents for Uttlesford

**Residents for Uttlesford** (R4U) is a localist political party in the United Kingdom. The party was launched in 2014, and formed from a number of residents groups in the area. The party is based in the Uttlesford administrative district in Essex and promotes a localist agenda that seeks to give residents a greater say in the future of their district. Residents for Uttlesford has elected representation at multiple levels of local government: Uttlesford District Council, Essex County Council and various town and parish councils, including the councils for both towns in Uttlesford, Saffron Walden and Great Dunmow.

For the 2013 UK local elections, Uttlesford residents stood two of their own candidates on an Independent platform. Both were elected - John Lodge to Essex County Council and Joanna Parry to Uttlesford District Council.

Following this, in 2014 the local residents groups formed their own party, Residents for Uttlesford, so that they could more easily stand a larger number of candidates across the electoral District. A number of existing councillors crossed the aisle to join the new party when it was launched.

Residents for Uttlesford cite other successful local independent political parties in the UK as the inspiration for their model, including the Loughton Residents Association in Essex, Residents Associations of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, and Independents for Frome with their Flatpack Democracy model.

## Electoral history

Residents for Uttlesford fought their first local elections in May 2015, with candidates standing for seats in both Uttlesford District Council and Saffron Walden Town Council. They won a majority of the seats on the town council and became the opposition in the district council.

A by-election was held on 16 February 2017 in the ward of Elsenham and Henhamof the Uttlesford District Council, following the resignation of the two councillors from that ward who were members of the Liberal Democrats. Residents for Uttlesford stood candidates for the first time in that ward and won a landslide victory, with 60% of the votes cast.

In the 2019 Uttlesford District Council election, the party gained control of Uttlesford District Council after winning 26 out of 39 of the available seats. They also maintained control of the Saffron Walden Town Council, winning 15 out of the 16 seats. The remaining seat was won by the Green Party, whose candidate did not defeat Residents for Uttlesford, but was elected as the seventh councillor for the seven-seat ward of Saffron Walden Shire, in which only six Residents for Uttlesford candidates stood.

In October 2019, three Residents for Uttlesford district councillors serving in the cabinet, including two who also sat on Saffron Walden Town Council, left the party to join the Green Party.

In the 2021 Essex County Council election, Residents for Uttlesford gained two of the four Essex County Council seats in Uttlesford from the Conservatives.

## Stansted airport expansion

Residents for Uttlesford was responsible for the controversial decision to revoke planning permission for the expansion of London Stansted Airport. This permission had already been granted by the previous council but R4U reneged on the agreement, potentially costing the local economy an estimated £1 Billion in investment in the coming years. The R4U-led council’s decision was overturned in 2021 by the planning inspectorate. The High Court rejected an appeal by the R4U-majority council and ordered the council to pay costs and compensation to the airport and to the Department for Communities and Local Government with the council’s bill expected to exceed £2 million.