While the main focus of last week’s elections has been the surge in the Reform UK vote at County Council level and the consequent dilution of the mainstream parties, very little analysis has been offered on the dire situation at the local level.
Last week also saw the declaration of results at town and parish councils, although there were very few declarations to be made.
Most councillors were returned unopposed as not enough candidates stepped forward to necessitate a contest.
Indeed, only 38 contests took place in 197 wards across the whole of County Durham, leaving manytown and parish councils severely under-represented. Ferryhill, Shildon and Chilton Town Councils, for example, have a combined and unprecedented 23 vacancies from 46 seats.
South West Durham News asked Sue Reece, a town councillor at Chilton, to consider why:
As the dust settles on the local elections, and we move into a new phase of leadership within Durham County Council, it is also an opportunity to reflect on how these elections have impacted grass roots governance at parish and ward level.
This is not so much a review of voting patterns but more the lack of any voting as the majority of seats were filled unopposed with a clear shift away from party allegiances.
The Democracy Club provided a pre-May 1st analysis of the 1,274 councils up for election nationally which included three city councils, 133 town councils and 1,138 parish councils, totalling 10,205 candidates.
What is starkly different to county council level is that the majority of candidates for the unpaid role of town or parish councillor are not affiliated to any political party.
In fact, 82.6% (8,432) described themselves as independent, used a non-party description (my personal favourite was the candidate who put “big bloke – big smile”) or left the box blank.
What is also obvious and worrying for local democracy is that there are more seats available than there are candidates who have put themselves forward, resulting in 67% of seats being filled uncontested, 2,549 left unfilled, 70 wards with no candidates and 31 inquorate councils, meaning they are unable to take executive decisions at all.
This translated in our own County Durham to only 20% of our wards going to the polls, 677 seats won uncontested and 282 seats unfilled.
Chilton, Ferryhill and Dean Bank, several wards in Aycliffe, Great Aycliffe, Sedgefield and the three Shildon Wards were all uncontested requiring co-options post 1st May.
Four councils had no candidates standing and Ferryhill Station and Byers Green did not have enough candidates to form a quorate council.
In terms of my own town council, Chilton, we are now eight independent councillors out of a total of 12, having run for the last year with vacant positions.
We could argue that being totally independent has advantages in that we are not tied to a political party and work purely in the interest of
Chilton, however many councillors may say that their political affiliation doesn’t necessarily come into play at town and parish level anyway.
Perhaps this is why the big parties are moving away from the grassroots level.
I am particularly interested in why we can’t attract more candidates, and it is an area I would like to explore with local constituents.
Is it a general lack of apathy in local government, or indeed any government? After all, turnout was low for those councils that did go to vote.
Is it lack of clarity between the role of a town council and county council, and do we need to do more to promote the work we do?
Is it that hard-working community activists who have the potential to be great local councillors are put off by social media abuse?
More than one potential councillor has questioned why they would put up with that while performing a voluntary role.
Could it be the perceived culture within a town or parish council environment, or is it simply that people don’t have the time to spare to give a commitment to a formal structure of local governance?
Is it a combination of them all?
Whatever the reason, we need to find ways to reverse the trend. Local democracy allows us to have a direct say in decisions that affects our daily lives. It is crucial that we don’t lose control over how we deal with local issues and leave decisions to centralised systems that are not attuned to the needs of our local communities.
If you want to make a difference at local level why not contact your local town or parish council for further information – there are plenty of vacancies at the moment.
If you would like to contribute to this discussion, write to us or send us an email at chapter@swd.news.
South West Durham News covering news across County Durham.
