Tag Archives: be a councillor

Why you should think of trying to become a Liberal Democrat Councillor

By Simon McGrath | Mon 16th November 2020 - 10:30 am

London Region have recently been running a series of Zoom calls for people who are thinking of running for their Council in the 2022 elections. I have taken part in a couple of these and it has made me think about what I enjoy being a Councillor and why I would recommend others think about doing so.

I have been a Councillor for the Dundonald Ward in Merton since May 2018 – the ward runs from Wimbledon to Raynes Park along the railway line and it is characterised by terraced houses occupied by middle class professional families many of whom are from the EU. It won’t be a surprise that it voted strongly for Remain.

It’s a great place to knock on doors and talk to people – particularly in the daytime (I am retired) when a surprising number of people even before the lockdown work from home and often have more time to chat. I have had fascinating conversations about PG Wodehouse, the merits of working for different French banks and the details of train operations on the District Line. People occasionally even want to talk about politics!

The journal of a new councillor (part 1)

By Helen Burton | Tue 5th May 2020 - 11:17 am

Helen Burton was elected as a new councillor in Eastbourne last year. In this moni-series, she explains what led her to run in the first place…

I can’t believe it was a year ago I was elected as an Eastbourne Borough Councillor, the time has absolutely flown by. Who could have imagined a year ago that I would be writing this during lockdown in the middle of a pandemic, a crisis affecting local councils across the country?

My path to becoming a councillor in Eastbourne started with my volunteer role in the local community. I had already been a Parish councillor in …

Notes From A New Councillor: Bus Services Motion Passes!

By Kirsten Johnson | Thu 9th November 2017 - 8:10 am

I wanted to post an update to the blog I wrote in August on the poor bus provision in Oxfordshire due to cuts in bus subsidies.

There are two parts to this story – the motion I moved on Tuesday to Full Council which passed unanimously – hooray! – and how I got the motion to its final form.

We’ll start with the second part, as that was the real journey for me as a new councillor. I had originally submitted this motion for September full council, but we ran out of time …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged bus services and notes from a new councillor | 5 Comments

LDV at Local Solutions 2009

By Alex Foster | Fri 19th June 2009 - 2:57 pm

LDV will be represented tomorrow at ALDC’s Local Solutions 2009 conference in Sheffield. It’ll be a first outing for the exciting new Lib Dem Voice banner.

We’ll be there to help raise the profile of the site, and to ask Lib Dem councillors to write their stories up for us. We’re always on the look out to beef up our local government coverage with stories the Lib Dems at the coalface who are actually running things. Could you write a piece about an exciting Lib Dem …