Next years election May 2015 - encourage more people to become councillors

The National Association of Local Councils has started its campaign to get more people to stand for election as parish and town councillors in May 2015, urging a new generation of neighbourhood leaders to step forward and make a difference in their area.

Tens of thousands of seats on England’s most local level of Government – parish and town councils – are up for grabs on the same day as the General Election next May, and NALC wants parishes to improve their democratic mandate with an increase in the number of contested elections.

At a meeting of its governing body in London this week, NALC started its campaign by issuing a ‘Call for ideas and practice’ to generate proposals on how to get more people involved in grassroots local democracy, urging councils themselves to come forward with successful practise.

Councillor Ken Browse, Chairman of NALC said: “People care about where they live. Whether it's facilities and activities for young people, the state of local parks or open spaces, support to local groups, protecting community assets like buildings or pubs, or events that bring people together.

“Whatever needs tackling or improving locally, becoming a parish or town councillor gives people the opportunity to change things.

“As one of 80,000 parish and town councillors myself, I’m lucky to be able to make such a huge difference to the quality of life for people in my area. But the great work councillors do often isn’t reported by the media, so it’s no surprise people aren’t queueing up to get involved.

“This needs to change and next year’s parish elections, just 300 days away, are a golden opportunity to encourage more people, especially younger people, to become councillors.”

The campaign is being backed by the new chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on local democracy, Wells MP Tessa Munt who said: “Getting involved in your community as a parish councillor is the purest form of local democracy and community politics there is. 

“I want to see more people getting involved in running our villages and towns, making decisions on improving their area and giving local people a voice. 

“Parish councillors are the hidden gems of our country’s democracy. I want to see their mandate to spend public money and use statutory powers improved through more use of the ballot box. This can only serve to strengthen their role.”

NALC has issued a ‘Call for ideas and practice’ to help drive their campaign in recognition of the need for new action, individually and collectively, at all levels and by a range of organisations, particularly by councils themselves.