Pre-election experiences so far.

picture above - view from Mountbatten looking towards Plymouth City Centre. 

 

I have wanted to stand for council for some time and have decided that in light of the current lack of faith in both national and local government that 2010 is the year to have a go! With all the recent expenses scandals involving our MP's and with voter numbers at an all time low it seems my wish to stand as an independent candidate could be well placed. From my initial conversations with potential voters many have lost trust with the three main political parties, Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat. Some voters are tempted towards the BNP and UKIP but seem to be voting for these parties as a protest vote.

I personally have very little confidence in any of the current political parties and feel we need some radical changes within both Plymouth City Council and National Government and that is one of the reasons why I am standing as an independent and not choosing to join any of the current political parties.

So, the decision to stand was made and I made my first contact to the Plymouth City Council electoral office to register my interest. Someone took some details and I was told that I would hear back, but, no calls or mail arrived. I spoke to a friend who was also planning on standing and he asked me if I was attending the pre-election meeting to be held on the 3rd March at the council chambers, I had not been informed about such a meeting so called the electoral office again to find out what time the meeting was being held at, I was told 5.30pm. On Monday 1st March I decided to call the electoral office again to check that the meeting was still happening on the same date and time, I was told on this occasion that the meeting was at 5.15pm so was glad I had phoned to check, it wouldn't really look good to turn up late for your first visit to the council chambers!

 Picture taken within the council chambers. Image belongs to Plymouth City Council

So on Wednesday 3rd March I arrived at the council chambers at 5.15pm to find I was still late, it seemed the meeting had started early! The meeting was a pre-election meeting for anyone wishing to stand for either local election or parliamentary election as both elections are scheduled to take place on the same day with local ballot papers being printed on yellow card and general election papers being printed on white card to hopefully avoid confusion. The election will take place on Thursday 6th May 2010.

All those attneding the meeting were given handouts including their nomination papers. After leaving the meeting I set abut reading the forms in preparation to send my nomination papers to the council, at the bottom of the nomination paper were the words 'please read the notes overleaf' yet there were no note overleaf! A few day laters I contacted the electoral office again and got through to Tamsin Thurgood (she was very helpful) who agreed to send me out another nomination paper with the notes printed overleaf, as we chatted it became apparent that despite registering my interest in standing nearly 2 months before my details had not been kept and that is why I had never received the news about the pre-election meeting or the been sent nomination pack.

So, hopefully after the initial teething problems I now have a proper nomination pack in the post which will include the correct notes so I can complete the forms and get on with my election campaign and start thinking about my polices in more detail. 


Here, according to Plymouth City Council, is the role of a councillor:

A councillor's primary role's can be summarised as follows:

    * represent the interests of the constituents of the ward, dealing with their enquiries equally and without prejudice
    * liaise with other organisations and services to develop the quality of life and community well being within the city
    * contribute to good governance through the decision making process of the Council
    * take into account the views of local people and to actively encourage community involvement in the Council's decision making process
    * explain the reasons of how and why decisions are taken by the Council

Having read the roles above I feel that perhaps I should send a copy of this to some of the exisitng local councillors to remind them of their duties.

Anyway with less than 60 days till the election I need to get serious move on if I am to stand any chance of getting elected. I plan to use this blog to keep people informed about my campaign as well as to give a guide to the process of standing for council as an independent.

Whether or not I get elected I can promise to be honest and transparent throughout the election process and I can genuinley say that I care passionately about Plymouth and the people that live within it.