The Educated can Take Heart!

[CoolRobin]

On Monday morning, up and down the country, people with no previous experience of Local politics, will be storming in to council chambers, fuelled by adrenaline, vowing to make immediate changes but with little idea how to make it happen as vacant as the minds of those who voted them in.

They will be relying on Reform National Office for guidance, which will be slow in coming as they’ll be overwhelmed, unprepared and quite possible unbothered.
The new councillors will treat the people who work for the council with utter contempt, after all they have "a mandate from the people!"

Those very people who actually do the work in councils will continue to serve their towns, villages and cities, after all it’s their job, but I doubt it will be with enthusiasm.

Within weeks, the cracks will become apparent, the resignations will start, the revelations will appear, the peurile excuses will be proffered.

Right now, Reform at Local Council level are drunk on euphoria; sobriety will exact a terrible toll.

So if you’re sad at the moment, allow yourself a little smile as you imagine the terror that is beginning to grow in elected councillors without a clue.
I suspect their own supporters expectations will be part of their downfall.

I actually feel a little sorry for them... Nah, just kidding; let the carnage begin!

Yes - I actually take heart that this has happened a couple of years before the GE to hopefully the electorate will see how hugely damaging it would be to have them run the whole country by the time we get there.

Oh goody, another thread bashing REFORM and its supporters. We haven't had one for about 7 minutes!

Settles down with popcorn, awaiting all the usual derogatory comments about Reform posters. 🍿

Seriously, it's like Groundhog Day on here. 😆

You sound like a council employee afraid that someone will start questioning the value you supply in your job.

TBF, no elected people have experience on their first day.

Starmer for example, was not an experienced PM on his first day.

And he isn’t doing much better now.

I work closely with the local council (external organisation), attend lots of meetings, etc. We have a few Reform councillors here, and it's been very noticeable that they have a much steeper learning curve than other new councillors. I think they perhaps haven't been involved with their local community before becoming Councillors. It reminds me of working with BNP councillors back in the day.

But Starmer has had almost his entire working life as a lawyer and an MP to learn the ropes about legislation and governance

Many of these Reform people have fuck all except a racist attitude and 'common sense'

Exact thing that’s currently being discussed in my household. Good timing. Worse if they hadn’t had this dress rehearsal that will show their arses before the GE. I do feel badly that Plaid Cymru and the Green Party will be facing the same thing, though, but that’s because I’m a Reform-hating disabled old poor woman. No societal value to me, according to Reform; no, sir!

For sure. But I think my point still stands. Certainly at council level.

This thread is an incredible mixture of middle class snobbery and ignorance. The underlying message is “how dare those jumped up uneducated working class people get themselves elected? But don’t worry they’ll soon be exposed and we’ll return to the comfortable rule of the educated middle classes.”

This kind of attitude is why so many ordinary people despise the progressive middle classes.

It also shows a remarkable amount of ignorance. Apart from anything else most new councillors won’t be “storming in” on Monday morning because being a councillor is a part time role and most councils meet on midweek evenings around 6pm.

I disagree. In my area we have councillors from a wide range of backgrounds, ages, work, etc. and absolutely rightly so, that's how democracy functions best. It's not about class. It's about being a one issue party and the people who are drawn to Reform I think perhaps tend not to be community minded, and then find themselves in a position where they're working for their community but don't have a good understanding of the issues. Just my thoughts.

They got in in our coucil last year. They had zero idea how councils work, are funded and the range/level of statutory services they have to run (you'd think they'd have had a quick Google before putting themselves forward). They thought that there would be cuts to be made left, right and centre and found services already cut to the bone. They were surprised to find they would be expected to actually do some work. They've been useless.

Thank you for your calm reply to my slightly angry post.

I think right wing people often have a different idea of community to left wing people. Many of my left wing friends locate “community” in civic institutions, often government-funded. Eg council-funded services, youth centres, grant-funded local charities etc. Their view of an effective council is one that generously funds all these things.

A lot of right-leaning people locate “community” in less formal institutions that don’t interact so much with the state. Extended family, barbecues with your neighbours, a beer in the pub, premier league football clubs. Their view of an effective council is one that collects the bins, clears the litter and then gets out of the way, and keeps taxes as low as possible.

I don’t think that’s the same as not being community-minded. But it might mean being confused by stakeholders who think the council is a core part of the community, and who expect the new councillors to value and respect all the things that the council does.

https://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/news-events/news/can-labour-take-reform-uks-voters-why-labours-electoral-challenges-are-being-misunderstood/

This article from Sept 25 makes for quite interesting reading given this week’s results.

Our Council used to replace 1/3 of Councillors each year, (or maybe 1/4 every 4 years) so new Councillors were starting work surrounded by experienced colleagues.

It changed relatively recently, so EVERYONE is up for election at the same time now.
Whereas I realise some people will be re-elected, it seems a real backwards step to me to know that everyone who has any knowledge and experience of being a Councillor - whatever party you might represent - has their role finish at the same time and a whole new group of people all start on the same day, with very few people with any experience to guide or support them.

Doesn't make any sense.

@JustGiveMeReason
Hopefully, some of the re-elected councillors will have experience.
However, the process of local councillors being related to a political party doesn't totally make sense IMO. It would be better to have people who actually know what they are doing and have proven experience e.g. regarding managing the money properly.
I understand that local council decisions are political in a way e.g around housing. However, I think local people should vote on issues such as whether the council should build more housing, spend more on SEN provision, spend more on filling potholes etc. rather than voting on candidates linked to a particular political party.

The problem is that this right wing view of what a council does is not aligned with a council's actual statutory duties. Councils do a lot of things behind the scenes - it isn't all bins and litter, and councils don't actually have a choice about doing those statutory things. And that is where it all comes apart at the seams.

I agree @fairyring25

If they did this there would be no more housing and no SEN provision anywhere.

They have to spend on things that are statutory @MaidsRoom

Are you aware of the meaning of the word 'statutory'?

The question I was answering was a hypothetical one about what would happen if all local spending were subject to a referendum, rather than being dictated by law and councillors as it is now.

And statutory doesn’t mean “as it is now and ever shall be.” It means “has to happen until Parliament next changes its mind on the issue.”

How much would it cost if local councils held referenda on all their spending decisions? I pay enough Council Tax already. And that is aside from the moral implications - if there's anything these recent elections have shown it's that there are too many people in the UK who are only interested in kicking down at those less fortunate than themselves. So much for support for children, the disabled and the vulnerable...

It's a very bad idea.

That was the point of my post. Someone upthread suggested replacing councillors with direct referanda, and I suggested that we probably wouldn’t like the outcome.

That said, you must see the tension in your post. You don’t want your council tax to go up but you want to maintain support for vulnerable groups. The problem is the cost of that support is rising rapidly, so just maintaining current levels of support means your council tax has to go up by more than inflation every year.

Yup. Let them show those who voted them in locally exactly what they are.