New Parish Councillor in Great Baddow, and you might know him...
Well, I've got a little bit of news for you all.
A vacancy recently became available for Great Baddow Parish Council. We already have several Parish Councillors who are Liberal Democrats and as you know I don't think Party Politics has any place in local Government, but especially at Parish level. It's a conflict of interest when they are making decisions, which encourages them to put the interests of their Party before the interests of residents... which is not the purpose of a Council (or any democratically elected body for that matter). There have been a number of instances in recent years where residents have been disappointed by their actions, because it seems they have done exactly that. It's a miserable thing, for everyone actually, Councillors included.
I didn't want yet another partisan Councillor making the Council even less representative of residents. So although its not perfect timing for me, as I've recently gone self employed and am busy starting a business, I decided to go for it and put my name down. I sent an email applying and they asked me to write a letter about myself (you can read it below) and invited me along to the next meeting.
The Parish Council meeting was last night. In fact there were two of us applying for the vacancy, and both Independents. They asked each of us some questions while the other waited outside. Then we both had to wait outside while they deliberated and took a vote. After a few minutes they came out and gave me the job.
So there we have it, Councillor Parker and I didn't even need to buy leaflets!
Opportunities like this are brilliant for Independents and they come up more often than you would think. Elections cost quite a lot to run, and so Parish Councils often don't want to spend the money. The reason it's so good for Independents, is that elections are rigged against them with Party candidates having advantages in terms of manpower and funding as I've said elsewhere on the site. Bypassing an election, overcomes that. Once you're a Councillor you can make a name for yourself locally, and give yourself much better odds when standing in future elections, for the Parish or anything else.
So its worth having a think about whether you could be a Parish Councillor. Even if your circumstances aren't perfect. Then keep an eye open for vacancies in your area. Sign up to Local and Parish Facebook groups, mailing lists etc. This means when a vacancy does come up you will see it and be able to make a decision quickly. If we're going to change things for the better, we're going to have to change them from the grassroots up.
Anyway I thought you'd like to know that.
In other news, I've had a few people come back to me about attending our first meeting. Do let me know if you're interested if you haven't already, my email is below. It will probably be in the new year now. Hopefully we won't go into lockdown again. I'm feeling optimistic about this Omicron variant, based on the initial data I've seen... so take your vitamin D, see your family this Christmas and live your life.
Thats all for now.
All the best,
Mike
