There's a
document that explains the rationale. And if I may can I draw your attention to section 8.6.
QUOTE
8.6 A number of Members highlighted the difficulty that the political groups have in
recruiting new Councillors, particularly with reference to the time commitment
required and the relatively low level of remuneration. The Panel noted that in order
to attract candidates from more diverse backgrounds, as well as young employed
professionals, it is necessary to attempt to mitigate some of the factors that may
dissuade some people from standing for election.
May I now draw your attention to Dave Yates' letter to the Newbury Weekly News of 23rd April 2015.
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PARTY POLITICS IS RUINING OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT
I have for many years now, witnessed the process leading up to the Local Elections, where the two main parties on West Berkshire Council run around cajoling, pleading and sometimes bullying people into standing as candidates for the 52 seats on the District Council. Each side sees that the inability to field a full complement of candidates would be seized upon by the other as a weakness, a lack of support.
Agents and activists from both sides spend the final weeks running up to the deadline for nominations, pleading with reluctant potentials to allow their names to be put forward, sometimes to the point of promising that there is no chance of them being elected.
Once campaigning starts proper, the goal posts are moved, and these seats are actively targeted on behalf of a person who doesn’t want to win. Reason? To remove the big guns from the opposing benches.
Party HQ in London sends a celebrity big name MP, to come and be seen by the electorate as they flood the ward weekend after weekend with activists. Their intention is to oust the better person.
This process drives down the quality of our representation within the Council Chamber. Someone who may have devoted years to the community they represent, is replaced by someone, who is at best, a reluctant participant. This is beneficial to the Parties, as it leaves the Council Chamber full of yes men, half of whom couldn’t be trusted to sit the right way on a toilet seat, and the ruling executive can implement at will, directives sent down from their party masters in Whitehall. At which point Party Politics in Local Government becomes less about good governance than about control, and ultimately about power.
The promotion of Party Politics in local government is the worst expression of tribalism after racism.
Yours faithfully,
David Yates
Ain't that the truth!