Should I encourage my husband to be a councillor?

[purpleheart12]

Hi, everyone!
My husband works for royal mail but has always been interested in politics and he wants to become a local councillor is anyone on here one? What are your experiences please? I'm very nervous for him because of the deaths of Jo Cox and David Amess is it safe? Any advice would be great thank you

I have worked for several local councils so am generally familiar with the role of a District/Borough Councillor - is the what you mean? Or Parish Councillor?
I don't think local Councillors are as prominent as MPs, I've never heard of one being attacked.

It is a hell of a lot of work though -if done properly. Lots of meetings, residents surgeries, getting out and about meeting residents etc. Does your DH know any of your local Councillors? I would suggest seeing if one would talk him through the role.

Good on him wanting to serve his local community.

Quite a few of my friends are local Councillors and my DF was one for years. It is a lot of work but I really admire people who do it, so many people moan and complain about political/local issues but won't do anything constructive.

I agree with the PP, it's very worthwhile to serve your local community.

I am not, but I do work alongside councillors very closely.

It's basically a second job, in terms of constituency casework, meetings, briefings and committees. And there will be a lot of anti-social hours.

I do see a lot struggle to balance work/ life commitment and a few will only do a single term. That said, it's a great opportunity to make a huge impact locally.

I haven't really heard of any real incidents where safety has been compromised. However, as a Councillor they may need to make decisions that are very unpopular locally, so may be subject to quite intense lobbying from the community or groups.

They often become involved with upsetting or difficult casework, he will need to consider if he can do this without it being all consuming.

And of course, the political wrangling and arguments within the Council (and the groups) can become very stressful.