Knowing what it takes to be a good candidate and then a good councillor is vital to winning elections – and to then making something out of the opportunity the voters have given you. So here are seven questions to ask yourself if you are thinking of standing in the local elections next May or in a council by-election.
What will you do different from a councillor of another party?
There are decent people who will be conscientious and work hard in (just about) every party. And even in the most rural of wards, there is more than one person who is local to the ward. So what will you bring to it that makes you more than just a good councillor from any old party? What makes you a Liberal Democrat in how you go about the role?
What do you want to achieve for the ward?
Winning elections is a means to an end. What will you do with the power and publicity opportunities that even the humblest of backbenchers in the most ostracised of opposition groups get?
How long is it since you went to the least visited part of the ward?
In a rural ward it may be a clutch of farms flung out on a track a long way away from the rest of civilisation. In an urban ward it may be a block of flats hidden away behind a locked gate with an intercom. But wherever it is – your job as a councillor requires you to really know your patch, probably better than anyone else alive (save for any ward colleagues if you have them!). If even you are neglecting an area, then chances are there are people there who feel left out and also issues there that aren’t being tackled.
How well do you really know which issues concern people in your ward?
Do you know the name of the MP? Bingo – you’re already more politically informed that the majority of voters. Yes, really. Most people spend very little time thinking about the council and even less time thinking about politics. That doesn’t mean neither matters to them – but it means their priorities are driven by their lives, their families and their concerns, not by the strategic integrated framework for holistic service delivery.
What’s your two sentence answer to “Why should I vote for you?”
All the above should give you a good idea of the answer, but it’s surprising how many people don’t really know the answer. Muddling through without a message might get your through – but to survive a tough contest or to do a good job once elected, you do really need to know what you are doing and why.
What are your political and personal weaknesses?
Answer this question honestly – and then ask yourself how much they matter to doing the job of a councillor (almost certainly more than you’d like to admit) and what you can do about them. Let me give one example: I’ve come across councillors from all parties who, fundamentally, don’t really like talking to strangers. They come up with all sorts of excuses to not go canvassing and to stick with leaflets and doing stuff on the computer. The best admit these mistakes to themselves, and step by step remedy them. The worst? They never really talk to the public, sometimes wing it in a good year and get re-elected – but even when they do, they fail to shine as councillors because they carry on dodging talking to people.
How many votes do you need to win?
If you don’t know how many votes you need, how can your campaign be run efficiently? It’d be like trying to run a business without knowing what the overall profit and loss is.
Don’t fret if you don’t have good answers to all these questions yet: there is still plenty of time for you to sort that. Not many people will score a perfect set of answers to these questions – but good, talented people will recognise what needs doing and get to work. The tough part isn’t having the right answers to all the questions – the tough part is being willing to admit to yourself that you might not have all the answers, and to then start doing something about that.
Once you do, it gets easier and easier from there. So good luck – and have fun!
One final thought: if you want to find out more generally about what being a successful politician involves, you can take a read of So You Want To Be A Politician…
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5 Comments
Another good place to go for information on what is involved in being a Liberal Democrat councillor is the website: http://www.bealibdemcouncillor.org.uk
Good questions. It gives me something interesting to do this weekend. I’ll probably go for a walk around some of the parts of the ward I’d like to take on too. Shame there are no leaflets I can take with me.
Print some.
@Colin Green
Run off 40 copies of a survey. I’ve seen a number of versions around, and worked all the best ideas into a template for my area. Having got answers from a proportion of the 40 households, you can then put out a street letter to the homes concerned *and* use the information for the next Focus. This is what I would be doing if (a) it weren’t raining so hard and (b) I didn’t still have Focuses and a lot of letters datelined September still to get out.
I found `The Councillor`s Manual Vol 1 edited by Howard Sykes/Roger Symonds’ 2006 pub. by ALDC a real source of inspiration and always took it with me in my Ward Sugeries and to all Council and Community Council Chairing Meetings.
It is important to know how to be an effective L/D Councillor : and sorting out priorities,doing heaps of individual casework,keeping in touch with residents,being early for Meetings, especially when the Chair and getting the message across and maintaining regular Ward Campaigns via Focus are all included.
I found that the Leadership Academy run by the Improvement and Development Agency informed me greatly about the thinking and workings of Borough Councils and about Leadership across the political divide.
As a L/D Councillor who was seconded and privileged to do the Birkbeck College PG in Elected Member Professional Development I would also recommend Councils and new Members to find out if this is open to them.
I believe that being knowledgeable of your local Ward and knowing all roads,streets and council estates and to be an intent listener at Surgeries and community meetings is all important.
Finally, to build a strong personal and L/D team reputation of public trust in the local community is vital to earn.
A good Cllr. is an active listener and cares about local people and the local practical day to day issues that they see themselves as being important whetter it is planning matters social housing,council tax enquiry or concerns about a child gaining admission to a local primary school etc. This being all grist to the mill as all residents` views and concerns are vital to understand,especially when a non mother tongue resident and to record and case report. Being reliable and accountable are two important skills.