In Ealing I lead a small but proactive team of four Lib Dem councillors who provide real opposition to the Labour-run council.

In these times where we are all trying to deal with Coronavirus, there are many ways we can help the community by promoting advice to our constituents, holding virtual meetings in our wards to answers residents’ concerns and scrutinising what the Council can do differently or better to help residents and users of Council services.

By campaigning in an active and smart way consistently, you can be an effective opposition party by getting the Council to listen to you and to introduce policies that will help people in your local area. Some of these include:

• Reversing changes to Council Tax Support scheme that were causing harm and greater levels of Now more vulnerable residents are exempt.
• Leading the campaign to stop Charing Cross Hospital’s Accident & Emergency ward from closing.
• Highlighting a £1.1 million IT blunder causing the telephone system to stop working for a week and then leading the charge to enable changes to stop this reoccurring.
• Extending the use of powers of local Ward Forum meetings which have a budget to spend on local matters including play facilities for teenagers, care facilities for the elderly and providing cycle training.
• The introduction of one of London’s first ward wide 20 mph zones and other road safety initiatives.
• Persuading the Council to be opposed to an expansion of Heathrow airport.
• Forcing the Council to introduce a large number of policies which will help reduce the negative impact on our environmental from the Council and its contractors.

With only a small Lib Dem group of councillors, we have achieved this by picking up two or three themes about where the Council is failing and then actively campaigning to fix them through solutions we have suggested. Even if the Tories or Labour have a large share of the councillors, change is possible.

Job satisfaction. There is nothing more satisfying than a local resident thanking your hard work you have done for your community when you head out for the weekly shop on your high street.

With many local elections taking place in May 2021 or 2022, there is time to think about whether you want to be a Council candidate. If you are annoyed with your local Council, then why not step up and be that candidate or join others who are already active in your area?

Your community needs YOU!

* Gary Malcolm is the Lib Dem Group Leader in London borough of Ealing and has been a Councillor since 2002