Promoting democracy
INDEPENDENTS PROMOTE DEMOCRACY AND PUT THE LOCAL BACK INTO COUNCILS
It’s when the moment comes during the Annual meeting that the "controlling" party raises its arms as one to crack the whip across the chamber that the reality of party politics in local government sinks in. As the votes, like a perverse Mexican wave, allocate chairs, offices and appointments all unto their own sweep around the room. A seat on a lowly charitable trust suddenly assumes the importance of a U.N. resolution in the face of such unbridled power.
Quietly, for those who have cherished dreams of winning and losing debates on their merits, of persuading, representing or advocating, the mantle of ‘opposition’ descends. For those who stand simply to represent their communities, to promote consensus – who have met their own election expenses because they feel some kind of calling to serve – in other words, for the Independent, these moments reinforce the distaste for party politics which is now growing in the hearts and minds of an increasing portion of the electorate.
At the root of this unease lies the concept of ‘control’. Recently, reports have described Independents as ‘taking control’ of local councils in recent elections. This is not how it works. Independents practise a different way of conducting business. They allow the issue in question to be analysed, discussed and voted upon according to the merits of the case. Individuals weigh the consequences for their ward, the impact upon the overall council area, the costs and the benefits, correlation with the ‘general duty’ and so on. They listen, they worry, they decide. My God! Democracy!
And, with Independents, there is no ‘opposition’. All councillors are equal; each has their vote and their talents. Offices are elected according to merit; service to the community is the only consideration; ‘control’ is the last thing on their minds.
The principles of serving on the Council as an Independent lie at the heart of real local democracy. The conceit that political parties, if voted in with a ‘controlling majority’ will, somehow, provide a ‘coherent administration’, or will deliver more efficient services or better value for money, or will, if elected in sufficient numbers, reduce the council tax – these myths are being rumbled by the voters.
It is almost libellous, therefore, to describe a council in which the majority of seats are held by Independents as being ‘controlled’ by a group. Such a concept misrepresents the refreshing blend of cooperation and individualism which gives communities which elect Independents the sort of engaged, accountable and principled leadership which makes local government work well.
It is almost always the case that the painter of a landscape will omit himself, and his shadow, from his painting. We have experienced an awful lot of tinkering with local government over the past thirty years, most of it designed to accommodate the imposition by corporately avaricious political parties of themselves, of the concept of ‘control’, of the excluding stigma of ‘opposition’ – there is much worry about how local councils function, how they can account for their actions (or lack of them) – a huge amount of this could and should be removed by discouraging the politicisation of the Council. A growing number of electors are returning Independents to represent them because the democracy they get is about them, about their neighbourhoods and their communities – and not about the Won, Lost and Drawn columns of the political premier league.
Bert Biscoe
Independent
Moresk Ward, Carrick, Truro, Kernow
May 2003