Oh look at the newbies! The one thing you have to love about elections, be they national or local, is all the aspiring politicians who suddenly come out of the woodwork.
And this year’s local election isn’t going to be any different. Oh how eager and bright-eyed they all look in the profile shots which invariably come attached to their press releases. I must say it’s refreshing to see these new faces. And in the next few months we will surely be seeing and hearing from a lot of enthusiastic young ones begging for the chance to represent you!
And it has to be said, I admire them. But I wonder, do they realise what they are getting themselves into? I’ve yet to look up at the public gallery during a mammoth council meeting to see them sitting there taking it all in. Because, let’s face it, in a few months it could be them sitting at the sacred table of elected representatives doing your bidding.
While some of our councillors may be getting, dare we say it, a little long in the tooth, there’s a lot to be said for experience. These lads and lassies know policies backwards and inside out, can decipher the complicated planning process, and know exactly who to talk to when a constituent approaches them with a problem.
But I'm not saying that only those with hard-earned experience should be voted in again. We need youth and exuberance as well.
The newbies have a bit of a way to go, but I’m sure they’re well aware of that! It’s a huge learning curve becoming a councillor for the first time, no matter how many campaign trails you’ve assisted with. But when you’ve sat through as many council meetings as I have, the need for some new blood becomes clear.
People want to see youth. They want to see councillors who have an email account, and drink pints of fat frogs in the local nightclub, right? Well why not? Public representatives need to have a life too!
This is also the perfect time for those better-established politicians to be given a wake-up call. So many of them have reassured themselves that everyone knows who they are, that their seat is secure, and that there’s no way some young wan is going to take it from them. Perhaps 10 years ago they would have been secure. But times have changed, our county has expanded, and we’ve welcomed a lot of new people to our neighbourhoods. We’ve also said goodbye to a lot of friends who have left for far off shores.
Surely established councillors have the cop on to know that nothing is safe and certainly nothing is guaranteed.
I’m delighted to see all these new candidates sending in their press releases. And equally I always enjoy hearing from our sitting councillors. But don’t they know that now is the time to be getting off their high horses? They need to get out there too, meet the public, and step up to the plate.
Nothing is certain in life, especially when politics is involved!
