CITIZEN EMPOWERMENT
A key part of empowering local people is to get them physically involved in politics, saysMarie Pye of London Councils.
volved in the development and growth of their communities. This is a common thread running through both the Big Society and the localism agendas being promoted by ministers, and dismissed by critics.
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Some groups of people are noticeably un- der-represented in politics, both in terms of their own engagement and the politicians who speak for them.
Getting people to stand for their local council is a way of tackling both issues at once. London Councils, the body which represents the various boroughs, actively encourages more local people to become involved.
Equalities lead at London Councils, Councillor Marie Pye, told PSE: “It can take a long time to get people involved, so we engaged in a large PR campaign using ex- amples of real-life councillors on our web- sites, articles, posters and leaflets.
“This was to give people role models who they could identify with and then perhaps think ‘they’re just like me, perhaps I could do it’. We even had a dedicated helpline, which people could ring to get advice on how to become a councillor.”
For many years there has been a percep- tion that members of the public are, at best, weary of politics, if not actively disgusted with the whole idea. However the response from local people to London Councils’ cam- paign suggests otherwise.
Pye explained: “There was a huge response - the team received around 150 enquiries in the first week alone. The team put together an information pack and put members of the public in contact with current council- lors so that they could talk about it.
“It was good to see that we had got the awareness up and we did see some shift in the profile of councillors. Obviously this was not a scientific test, so we can’t link it completely, but bearing in mind all of the enquires the programme attracted and all of the awareness which it created, I was pleased with the result.
“We saw a 10% rise in the number of women 22 | public sector executive Mar/Apr 11
Above: A
London Councils engagement event, promoting the campaign encouraging
people to become councillors
councillors; now whether that was down to us, or to Peggy Mitchell running as a coun- cillor in EastEnders, I don’t know! We did, however, link our campaign in with their storyline. In fact, we twisted quite a few scriptwriters’ arms to get the story in there and then gave them extensive amounts of information so that they could ensure that Peggy did it properly.
Cllr Pye’s own story
I became a councillor by mistake. I had worked in the ‘backroom’ of the party for years. There was a by-elec- tion and the leader of my party asked if I would put my name forward. We weren’t expected to win the seat, it was more just to show willing. Well I stood, but with what I had learned after running campaigns for the previous 20 years going in to my own campaign I, to much surprise, won.
I’m a full time councillor and Cabinet member now. The decision to pack my job in wasn’t easy, but it sort of made itself. At first I missed the manic lifestyle of full time job, family, council but I’m getting used to the way things are now. Mondays are my day at home, my time to not be a councillor. Although because I live in the ward I represent, the casework tends to find me as soon as I go over the doorstep – and sometimes not even that far.
What is it like being a councillor with a disability? I can only speak as someone with a disability, but I do think it is different for people like me. My mobility goes up and down. Getting out and knocking on doors can wipe me out. Physically it can be very hard going. At first I wasn’t sure how others would react to me as the councillor with the disability. I have to lie down frequently and I thought this would draw attention to me - either “what’s wrong with that one” or the “oh what a shame, how can I help you?”.
But to my surprise, I got a very human response and for most there was no issue at all. If I had known it was going to be like this I would have been a councillor years earlier.
“We have to evaluate this and work out whether it is the best approach for next time - we have done it London-wide but think it could be more effective at a local level. While seeing a poster of someone who could live in your area being a coun- cillor is good, it is far better if the person on that poster is actually someone who you interact with in your own community.
“Therefore I think that there might be an element of taking this approach far more to the local level so that people can talk to individuals right out of the community, and get to ask them how they are going to improve things.”
As a way of empowering local people, London Councils’ programme is about as straightforward as it gets - thrusting lo- cally accountable people directly into the political sphere.
Pye concluded: “It is the ultimate empow- erment. I can speak about this subject from a personal level - for 30 years I re- sisted being a councillor and then when I got there I found that this is really how you get to have your say, whilst representing other people’s views from your commu- nity at the same time.
“However we still need to also be look- ing at how a more di- verse mix of people can become involved in other roles, such as being a school governor.”
Marie Pye FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit
www.londoncouncils.gov.uk and
www.beacouncillor.org.uk
he Coalition Government is pushing for more local people to become in-
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