Our party has a habit of finding really good activists and recruiting them to become councillors - leaving them overworked and unable to be quite the activist that they once were.
I have been thinking about this a lot recently and am starting to think that maybe if I didn't have my own election to fight I could go and be part of other people's elections - which would be quite good fun.
Sometimes, I feel that activists are overlooked and the role that they play undervalued. The fact is that without willing volunteers who would do the envelope stuffing, running the Riso, bundling focus's, manning the phone ... we would be stuffed.
It is a dangerous thing for party exec's to be dominated by councillors and a real risk that the local party becomes run by elected representatives - rather than by the membership. Those who are elected as a member of our party do need to be able to have input from the party membership.
So, this leaves me with a dilemma. As a district councillor on a council that will be disbanded in the next 18-24 months, I need to decide whether I would like to put myself forward for the new unitary. I had been quite keen, but now am thinking that I might just be far more use as a "free spirit" who can remain involved at an activist level instead.
Hmmmm....
Monday, August 20
Activist or Councillor
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7 replies:
I do find that the more active activists sometimes dominate though. Its hard for those of us who aren't good at campaigning or who don't have the time to go canvassing to get a look in...
Sometimes I get the impression we're looked down upon as not 'real' members.
A balance is needed between all types of member - activists, politicians and even arm chair members.
Very good point Tristan and I have seen this myself.
I think that some members do not get more involved at branch, exec or social level because they feel guilty that they haven't been out delivering leaflets from dusk til dawn.
To my mind we are all cogs in a "machine" and no one cog is more important than any other - I believe that is what a true team philosophy is!
And that applies to all - Whether your cog is sitting at home paying the dues and shouting at the radio or if your cog is out delivering leaflets, or even if your cog is fronting the whole thing up as ppc or councillor!
I found myself tied down to working my own area when I was a councillor, although I did try to do things outside of my wards (I ocvered a whole county division), and missed being able to help elsewhere.
I used to like be the +1 or the extra who could go in somewhere and make a difference.
Very true Arwen ! Take away our councillor / former councillor base and you have very few activists - at least here in Torbay.
Further, the lack of political debate / ideological focus is quite startling. No wonder we say different things in differing parts of the country, often tempered by whom the main opposing party is, which in Torbay is the Tories and squeezing Labour is key.
Years ago, whilst a Labour member, I found the level of political discourse and number of [non-elected] activists to be much higher.
Whenever I go to meetings/dinners and do the usual introducing myself (shameless networker that I am) I am always startled by people who say "Oh, I'm just an activist" apologetically.
Barrie, you make a brilliant point about ideology / focus being lost in the position of being in power / opposition. I could list numerous examples of this locally!
This is where, when you get down to a local level the influence is all wrong. That's why I think there might be more weight in being an active observer/contributor than being an elected one. Unfortunately I believe many elected reps (especially those who have been in for some time) forget that this is the way our party is supposed to work ... and a lack of active members allows that to happen!
Norfolk Blogger - I agree, and if I am elsewhere helping someone else, I feel a bit guilty as I should probably be going walkabout / delivering in my own ward instead!
You just can't win ... but then again in the local elections in May I helped a fellow candidate for two afternoons ... he won by 12 votes! In many ways that felt better than winning myself!
It's an interesting point, Arwen.
I often feel, at the local level, that you are only valued in terms of the number of leaflets that you deliver or the number of years you have been delivering them.
There are many ways to contribute and all are valuable...but it depends what you want to achieve.
Some people love the cut and thrust of campaigning, whilst others want to be elected reps because it's a way they can make a difference to people's lives and elections just mean putting all that at risk, others want to be able to influence policy at local and national levels; and some love all three!!!
I find my beloved Lib Dems, when it comes down to it, quite a macho environment - which I guess says more about politics than Liberalism.
Actually, in our local party the Exec is made up of mainly activists rather than councillors but that may reflect the different electoral success we have!
Where can I start the "Arwen 4 Unitary" campaign?
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