This week we all have the chance to vote in the local elections for Gloucestershire County Council.
Here in Stroud we also have the District Council, and sometimes it’s hard to get your head round which council does what.
Basically, Gloucestershire County Council runs education, social care, public transport, and highways, but they are also involved in a number of other areas – the environment, some planning and so forth. Their budget for the new financial year is £665m – a lot of money.
Yet the turnout last time these seats were contested was low, with, in some places, only 27% of people voting (up to around 50% at the top end).
It’s often said that politicians are all the same and it doesn’t matter who you vote for, nothing changes. Disillusionment with the political process is, I think, probably the worst it has ever been in my lifetime (although, to be fair, people have said this for hundreds of years and the truth is that it comes and goes).
Politicians – people like me – have to hold our hands up and say that we have helped create this problem. People do not always see themselves or their lives reflected in what we talk about. It’s easy for us to say that one policy or another has cost millions of pounds and has changed this or that aspect of people’s lives for the better (or worse) – but unless this rings true with people and they see the reality of their own lives changing, there’s no reason why they should believe us.
When the pace of change is slow it is very frustrating – and that is one reason why people are attracted to those who say that some of the most complex problems are actually easy to solve. It also helps those who demonise certain groups, saying that everything would be better if it wasn’t for this or that sort of person making life difficult.
Overwhelmingly, people go into politics, especially at the local level, to try and improve things for their communities. They really need our support and help to make a difference, and we can all help by voting on Thursday. The bigger the turnout, the better their mandate, and the more likely we are to get councillors who really represent us.
Voting is important and it does make a difference. We owe it to ourselves to make elections work.
