Jo Hawley Aims to Revive Bracknell's Economy

Jo Hawley, a former UK Deputy Trade Commissioner for Europe and ex-Consul-General in China, has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Bracknell.

Hawley is a Warfield resident and parish councillor. She spent more than a decade persuading international companies to invest in the UK during a 25-year civil service career.

Bracknell was built as a new town after 1949 and once attracted big employers such as Honeywell, 3M, Sony, Panasonic, Hewlett Packard, Dell, Fujitsu and the Met Office. The Met Office moved to Exeter in 2003, HP closed its Bracknell head offices in 2018, and Dell shut its EMEA headquarters in 2022; Dell House is now set to be demolished for warehousing. Of 40 large employers in 2016, a quarter had gone by 2023.

"A building that housed a global technology headquarters is becoming distribution sheds. Residents can see that, and when they say something has gone wrong here they are right. I spent over a decade working with international companies deciding where in the world to put their money. I know what they ask, and I know how quickly a place gets crossed off a list. Bracknell hasn't been unlucky. It's just not adapted to the changing market. That's a fixable problem."

Her four priorities are to pick two or three sectors where the borough has a genuine advantage, secure a named research or teaching institution, stop losing employment land to warehousing, and give major investors support, including speed and certainty in planning.

Earlier in her career Hawley set strategic direction for schools innovation and youth services at the Department for Education, led the national rollout of the youth programme National Citizen Service, ran a London improvement programme for child protection, and restructured children's services at Harrow Council.

The council faces a £10.1 million funding gap next year, the lowest spending power increase of any unitary authority in the country over three years, and has £23 million of reserves committed to SEND funding. "Some of what's wrong with public services here is lack of money, and this Labour council is being dealt a worse hand than anywhere else in the country by their own Labour government colleagues. Some of it isn't about money, though. I've been the person sent in to fix services, and knowing how to make improvements without extra money is value I can bring for the residents of Bracknell."

Hawley's first initiative as candidate is "a hundred conversations in a hundred days" with employers, school leaders, young people, families waiting for support and residents, and she has committed to publishing what she hears.

Mike Forster, chair of Bracknell Liberal Democrats and borough councillor for Sandhurst, said: "We are truly delighted to have secured such a strong candidate in Jo. It builds on the teamwork of the last eight years and delivering for residents at both Borough and Town Council, and shows our passionate commitment to delivering the very best for Bracknell residents."

The Lib Dems have come third or fourth in the last four general elections and were second in 2010.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter