So…what do you think?
You can read the manifestos via the links below.
…and once you’ve done that, find your candidates at https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/ and email your questions over to them!
More videos of candidates please people!
Here are the first two I’ve seen in this campaign in Cambridge. Starting with Coleridge Ward and Cllr Tim Griffin re-standing for Cambridge Labour Party. (I was not commissioned for this one)
Following him in the same ward, Sarah Nicmanis for the Cambridge Green Party (I *was commissioned* to create this one)
In both cases, the candidates focus on themselves, their own policies, and their own parties. Which is what I’ve been guiding past candidates to do for years with videos – such as this medley featuring all four main parties back in 2017. These days I have to charge. Back in the previous decade I did them for free to try and encourage candidates to get used to speaking into a camera lens.
When deciding what to ask your candidates…
Remember that as a lower tier authority in a two-tier area, Cambridge City Council has relatively few powers and even less funding than say Cambridgeshire County Council, or Peterborough City Council which as a unitary council is a different type of council – one that combines the powers and responsibilities of upper and lower tier councils.
One of the things it took me time to understand (my generation was not taught about politics and democracy at school, college, or university as part of the core set of subjects) was the nature of being an elected constituency representative.
Above – from Cllr Naomi Bennett (Greens – Abbey) on some of the day-to-day issues that ward councillors have to deal with.
It’s one of those things where if you look for ‘trouble’, chances are you will find it. Although in this case it’s a case of local problems and supporting people in resolving them – rather than looking for a punch-up!
“What are we comparing again?”
It’s easy to say “Read them and compare” – but if you’ve not been taught the first thing about politics and democracy, how are you meant to know what’s a realistic pledge aimed at resolving a community issue, vs a populist pledge seeking to point the finger of blame without solving the root causes?
Pick your local priorities and rank them in terms of importance.
Before doing that, you need to know what the council that is holding the election is actually responsible for. In this case, Cambridge City Council is not responsible for potholes. So if you ask the candidates about potholes, the best answer you’re likely to get is who can be fastest to the phone to contact/email the county council to report it.
Instead, have a look at Cambridge City Council’s website (see https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/ then scroll about a third of the way down and click on the Menu box. It will come up with a list like this:
Above – a list of things Cambridge City Council has at least some responsibility for
Compulsory outsourcing brought in by Margaret Thatcher’s Government has severely constrained the direct accountability that council officers used to have with elected councillors.
Remember that thing about Parliament being sovereign? The Conservative Government tabled the Local Government Bill which was enacted in 1988. Parliament can make laws on *anything* within the UK. In this case ministers tabled a piece of legislation requiring in-house services to be put out to tender for private companies to ‘bid’ for the right to provide them – the economic theory being that ‘competition’ would result in them running services much more efficiently than if provided in-house. Note that Act has since been amended in various places.
“An Act to secure that local and other public authorities undertake certain activities only if they can do so competitively; to regulate certain functions of local and other public authorities in connection with public supply or works contracts; to authorise and regulate the provision of financial assistance by local authorities for certain housing purposes; to prohibit the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities; to make provision about local authorities’ publicity, local government administration, the powers of auditors, land held by public bodies…”
Local Government Act 1988 – preamble
Above – in a miscellaneous clause of that Act was the infamous Section 28.
Earlier today I got talking to a couple of undergraduates on the bus into town (Committee meeting of the local history society) who were talking about political issues and I remarked that they should get involved in local politics. Their experiences of education having recently completed full-time compulsory schooling were striking. They also mentioned they were hardly taught anything about how politics and democracy works. Which is almost as little as what my generation in the 1990s were taught.
“Anything to be aware of in the manifestos?”
I’ll pick out one positive from each of the four manifestos.
Conservatives – They have picked up on anti-social behaviour as an issue, something they have aligned with their campaign to get their candidate for the Police and Crime Commissioner post, Darryl Preston re-elected. (Just as I finish typing this sentence, two motorbike riders with very loud engines – potentially against noise limits. (Regulation K, The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986)…have shot past).
Green Party – They support a workplace parking levy – something opposed by the business and university lobby on the Greater Cambridge Partnership. Hence the mess of the road user/congestion charging last year. (My take is that Cambridge must have a light rail with an underground tunnel section beneath the city that is up and running *before* congestion charging is looked at, so that any charging is an incentive to use light rail)
Labour Party – Crackdown on rogue landlords – something that Cambridge ACORN the community union (there goes another loud motorbike) has been campaigning on for quite some time. They are also calling on ministers to bring in tighter regulations on short-term lets (AirBnB-style) to stop the loss of residential housing making the housing crisis worse.
Liberal Democrats – Noise detectors / acoustic cameras to deal with the problem of people riding motorbikes and driving motor vehicles with engines so loud they break the law.
There’s one thing that all political parties have omitted in their manifesto
That is a very clear commitment to bring in a policy/action on educating the public about democracy and citizenship – making provision for adults to learn how our city functions (and malfunctions!), and where it sits within the wider structure of the nation state.
Below – an example of a GCSE Citizenship series of topics from the mid-2010s
And if anyone wants topic-by-topic guides, have a browse through the publications by Great-Shelford-based Independence Educational Publications Ltd here.
Above – a selection of guides from IEP based in Great Shelford – designed for teenagers with no exams at the end of them, these are suitable for discussion groups designed for adults too.
And finally….
I’ve never done this before but I hope this becomes a thing. I’ve booked the Rock Road Library Community Room for an ‘open drop-in’ session for residents in Coleridge and Queen Edith’s wards on Sat 27 April from 10am-2pm. No formal speeches, no BBCQT-style loaded questions from a hand-picked audience, just the chance for the public to meet their local candidates and discuss any local issues.
Above – the poster for the event, which I’ve also added to the FB Calendar for the Queen Edith’s Community Forum. (Also here’s an EB-link for anyone who wants to help contribute towards the room-booking costs.)
I hope there are organised events across our city, because given how fragmented social media has become, I’m of the view that not only do we need more face-to-face opportunities for the public to meet candidates, but also that the traditional ‘Question Time’ style of events is not suited towards discussing the very difficult and complex issues that our city now faces.
Food for thought?
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