Why be a Councillor?
Whilst local government has changed and
evolved over many years and is continuing a process of change, the
local councillor remains at its heart.
Elected by local people to serve them and
represent their views, needs and aspirations, a councillor takes on
many roles as local leader, advocate, champion, representative and
campaigner. The councillor is also expected to represent the
council to the public.
In its report “Representing the Future”, the
independent Councillors Commission said, “Councillors carry into
the council the views of the public and explain the decisions of
the council to the public.” However, it also warned public
disenchantment was high and that “councillors are most effective as
local elected representatives when they have similar life
experiences to those of their constituents yet councillors
increasingly are failing to reflect the communities they
serve.”
In the last ten years the profile of
councillors has changed. The Councillors Commission put it plainly.
“Today's average age for a councillor is 58.3 - a significant
increase since 10 years ago when it was 55.4 - and the overwhelming
majority are retired or self-employed. Younger councillors
are becoming a rarity with just 3.5 per cent under 30 and fewer
than one in three are women. Only 4.1 per cent of local
representatives come from ethnic minority backgrounds,” it
said.
From the union’s perspective having Unite
members serving as Labour councillors on local authorities is a
good thing. There are many Unite members who are councillors on
different authorities across the UK including the London Assembly,
unitary authorities, County, District and Borough Councils. At the
last count there were around one thousand Labour councillors who
are Unite members. As a Labour affiliated trade union we only
support Labour councillors and candidates who are members of the
Labour Party.
In addition to the public service role we
believe union members who are also councillors are uniquely placed
to speak up for the interests of our whole membership – working and
retired. With well over one hundred thousand Unite members working
directly and indirectly in local government, the union looks to our
members who are councillors to understand their concerns and issues
and speak up for them. Pay, pensions and privatisation are all key
issues on the local government workers’ agenda. Active trade union
members serving on councils can make a difference in arguing for
social and economic justice.
But the figures do not lie. We need to
encourage more women, young people and members from ethnic minority
backgrounds to come forward and run for election as Labour
councillors.
If you want to find out more about what being a local councillor
involves, please contact the Unite Political Department on 020
7611 2077 sign up online to be on the Unite Councillors’
Network at tom.beattie@unitetheunion.org.
You can also read about one councillor’s experience by reading the
article about Bristol Labour Councillor John Bees in this section
of the website which was first printed in Unite’s activist
newspaper The Workplace Reporter (August/September 2008
edition).
