How do I become a local councillor

[malc1000]

I care about my local community and I want to act on its behalf and see that it gets a fair deal vs. the rest of the borough. I feel I can best make a difference as a local councillor. I don't want to align myself with any particular party and would lie to represent my village as an independent. Whre do I start??

[straz]

A friend of mine who lives in a small village in Lincolnshire was welcomed with open arms into his Parish Council as there wasn't enough people wanting to stand re: places available. There's a lot of apathy out there! Good Luck anyway!

[Emmess]

I'm sorry to appear cynical, but I also had similar ambitions a long time ago, and "succeeded" in getting elected - as a member of the party in power at the time. I can tell you, as an individual councillor, either as a member of the majority - or minority groups - and especially as an independent, you will be wasting your time. It's all about power and vested interests - and nodding the head to Central Government. I doubt you'll make a scrap of difference, however hard you try.

[Emmess]

I don't doubt a single word of Tartanwizard's reply - nor do I essentially disagree with him. In fact, even before I became a councillor, I held the view that Party politics should have no place in Local government; virtually all that I encountered during my time did nothing to change that view. In fact, I didn't last long as a "foot-soldier" for the ruling group and ended up resigning the whip and finishing as an independent. Yes, it's easy enough to attract votes and get elected - but one question left unanswered by Tartanwizard is how successful or otherwise his friend has been in hitting against the power party politics and actually changing things.

[malc1000]

I'm delighted and interested by these responses ..... and I'm listening. I have an open mind for now. I want to get the right things done, maybe I'm best doing that as a voter rather than as a politician, I'm not sure yet.