Turnout at local elections hovers at around 35 per cent, dropping to 25 per cent in London: a shockingly low figure. Whitehall, think tanks and commissions are full of ideas about how to reinvigorate local democracy. But after four years as a councillor in Lambeth, it is clear to me that the protagonists in this debate remain frighteningly ignorant about the reality of local politics, and about what people want from their “local governors.”
All the parties and think tanks want to hand power back to citizens. Labour believes “local communities are just better at dealing with their own problems. They have the networks.” The Tories “advocate devolving power directly to the citizen,” and the Lib Dems want “local communities… to have more influence and say over the issues affecting them.” But my time as a councillor has told me one thing: citizens don’t want more power; they want someone to do it for them.
One of my polling districts comprised 99 per cent local authority housing, meaning its voters were heavy users of council services. These are the people who should be most eager to use the ballot box. But turnout here struggled to reach double figures. Yet the “new localism” continues to find ears in Whitehall. New tiers of committees and “urban parish councils” will, say ministers, reinvigorate local involvement. Much of the thinking in the department for communities and local government’s recent white paper, “Strong and Prosperous Communities,” is informed by such ideas.
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