I have been very privileged in recent weeks to work with a number of new Councillors who were elected recently in the May 2010 local elections. I have been working with them to agree personal development plans to help support them as they develop in their roles. A number of things struck me from the conversations that I wanted to capture in this blog:
- without exception the Councillors I worked with are committed, bright, articulate and care passionately about their communities and local area
- while there are one or two gaps and have been some teething problems their Council has organised a fantastically rich and varied induction programme to help new Councillors develop their knowledge and skills, get up to speed and understand the system and how best to navigate it and get things done
- the Councillors are ambitious and optimistic for their communities in spite of the real difficulties facing public services
To be honest, I enjoyed the discussions with them so much I felt energised by it all and optimistic that if people like this feel motivated to stand in local elections and represent their communities then there is good reason to feel positive about local democracy. Let’s hope that they stick with it and let’s hope the system doesn’t grind them down. Local government needs people like this to stand and work tirelessly to represent local people. I have no doubt that the new intake that I have worked with recently will do just that and as long as people of passion and quality like this are willing to stand for election then there is definitely hope for local democracy.
