As I have said since 2016, there should be a referendum before any changes are made to how we are governed in Hampshire. The people, not political parties, should decide. A sham consultation is no good.

Neither Labour nor Tory governments have stood up to Whitehall mandarins who want to take local democracy away. And local councillors have provided little resistance. I have contacted so-called council "leaders" and political groups in the area. Only the Liberal Democrats said they supported a vote, but now they have changed their minds.

I have stood up for residents, both here with Southampton Independents and when I was there for three years, in Somerset with Somerset Independents. I forced a referendum in Somerset through pressure and hard work. But the Tory Government forced it through, against the wishes of the public. Two buckets of manure, I called it, a Hobson's Choice.

We defeated the "Solent Devolution Deal" here in Southampton and in the region before, by my working together across the region with political parties and independents, but it came back from the dead like the vampire that it is. 

I disagreed with the former Hampshire County Council leader Roy Perry on almost everything, but he was right when he said that a stake needed to be driven through its heart. 

Join me to demand a referendum and encourage other residents do the same to save themselves from democracy being watered down.

The people, not political parties and not a bankrupt political system, should decide if:

(a) we want to change our councils and

(b) if we want to have an Elected Mayor.

Regards, Andrew Pope, Independent Network, Southampton Independents"