Quote:
Originally Posted by Guinness
In which case why align yourself with a party at all?
This is what I was trying to infer in my reply to our conservative deputy mayor..in Hyndburn you have little to zero chance of being elected unless you get into bed with one of the main parties regardless of the fact that party manifestos are irrelevant in local government..our current and previious independents are ex party members who have become disillusioned and can be discounted.
You are a card carrying member of the labour party, you can protest all you want about not slavishly adhering, but do you really think you, as an unknown immigrant from Preston  would have had a chance of becoming an independent councillor in Rishton??? |
You've nailed it there, I never would have got in as an independent candidate. At the time I wrote to the three existing councillors in Rishton to see how I could get involved and only the Labour councillor responded (Cllr Grayson). He came to my house and I asked him what exactly our representatives do, to which he gave me a tour of the village and got me involved with all the local groups over the course of a few months. I met the Labour group, liked their local ethic and thought to myself that these people were the only ones who had even bothered to respond to my letter.
In comparison we had the local Conservatives, most of whom I get on with very well, but it would have meant being under the wing (some may say 'thumb') of Cllr Britcliffe and I'm afraid that isn't terribly attractive.
To be an Independent you need to have a large personal following, something which I certainly didn't in 2010 (and to be honest, still probably don't now). There are only a handful in Hyndburn and those who have been voted in on that ticket (as opposed to being a mainstream candidate who then changes to being Independent) are very well known in their respective communities.
Independents lack the support of a group when they need it so motions to Council and policies require the backing of a mainstream group anyway. Canvassing would be soul destroying without a campaign team behind you and you get an awful lot of moral support and help when things go a bit bandy. I've had tremendous help on several issues during my time on HBC which I wouldn't have had as an Independent so for all the talk of slashing political ties you're actually putting yourself out on a lonely limb.
I'm not a dyed in the wool red as my colleagues know full well but I'm very definitely on the right local team.