From today onwards, postal votes will be landing on people’s doormats. So here is my request to you and everyone in ‘Buckingham East’ to vote for me to represent you at the County Council.
In summary: while Warren, the existing Councillor, has worked hard and done a good job… I believe I can and will do better. Here are the main reasons why:
The demands on the County Council are growing while resources are getting tighter and tighter. I have spent nearly all of my working life advising local councils and the police on how to get ‘more for less’, how to squeeze out more results with fewer pounds. So I bring a unique set of skills, creativity and insights which will help me argue persuasively for better ways of doing business in the County Council.
For me, being a councillor is not about taking decisions ‘for’ or ‘on behalf of’ local people. It is about taking decisions ‘with’ and ‘fully informed by’ local people. This is one of the reasons I started this FB group a little over two years ago. I wanted to create a place where we could connect and have conversations about what matters to each one of us. And it has become a place which has helped keep me up to date with what matters (as well as find lost cats, caravans and wallets etc). A vote for me is a vote for the kind of politics that is done ‘with’ and ‘not to’ our local community. I am the kind of politician that listens because I like to not because I feel I have to…
The County Council has existed for 128 years and has been run by the Conservative Party all that time. I don’t think that is going to change anytime soon. But what I do believe must change is the power of local opposition parties to hold the ruling administration to account. We are all democrats and wise enough to know that power without challenge is a dangerous (and inefficient) thing: there need to be checks and balances… and hard questions and scrutiny. A vote for me is a vote for lots of that. My good friend and colleague, County Councillor Robin Stuchbury has punched way above his weight and punctured some of the complacency there is in a 128 year old government. Just think what two or more of us will achieve for local democracy, transparency and value for money.
I am not going to insult your intelligence by making lots of vague promises to smooth all the roads, fully resource all our schools, provide excellent care for all adults and children that need some, burn all our waste ecologically and economically or install a chocolate fountain in the middle of Buckingham (etc). These are all very important (well, perhaps apart from the fountain!) and I will use every ounce of my energy, wily political spirit and creativity to achieve them. But there are tough times ahead. But I will promise to do all that I can do to get the County Council working better for you.
I want us all, throughout our time here on earth, to lead ambitious lives: lives that make a difference. Nothing delights me more than to hear stories of what people have achieved or what they hope to do. In my book, the job of national and local government is to do as little as possible but as much as possible to help people achieve their goals, dreams and ambitions for themselves and their families. (Why ‘as little’? Because government shouldn’t get in the way on people’s ambitions. Why ‘as much’? Because the purpose of government is to do what individuals cannot do on their own.) This is my kind of politics. This is me. I know that many people locally would never vote ‘red’ in a national election...
But I am asking you to vote for me. Thanks.
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