{"id":13845,"date":"2019-05-20T20:45:50","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T19:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/?p=13845"},"modified":"2019-06-12T14:35:15","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T13:35:15","slug":"no-politics-must-be-election-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/no-politics-must-be-election-time\/","title":{"rendered":"‘No politics’? Must be election time"},"content":{"rendered":"

20 May 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018No politics \u2013 just local\u2019. What\u2019s this then? An advert for the Co-op? Or one of those signs in\u00a0pubs \"\"advising drinkers what to avoid in conversation?\u00a0 No, it\u2019s the latest slogan from the \u2018Ideal Bradford\u2019 party in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire – and one that’s been adopted as we approach a town council by-election on 6 June.<\/p>\n

Ideal Bradford are one of a growing number of independent groups who have won council seats by offering an alternative to national parties.<\/p>\n

\u2018Independents for Frome\u2019 were among the first, retaining all town council seats this year under their slogan of \u2018flat-pack democracy\u2019. Across the UK, Independents now control a swathe of councils, from Epsom in Surrey to Ashfield in Nottinghamshire.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

As Liberal Democrats, we sympathise with the anti-establishment feeling. Thirty years ago, our party was founded in an effort to \u2018break the mould\u2019 of two-party politics and offer something fresh and forward-looking.<\/p>\n

But today, we are of course seen as part of the old system. And when Ideal Bradford say their aim is a council \u201cfree of party politics\u201d, it\u2019s largely the Lib Dems (who led the council for many years) and the Tories (who were often the second party) that they are talking about.<\/p>\n

All this takes place in a wider environment in which we are seeing a backlash against conventional politics. The most popular parties in France and Italy didn\u2019t exist a decade ago. Trump is more of a solo act than a Republican. And in the UK we are seeing rocketing support for Nigel Farage\u2019s Brexit Party with its anti-Westminster, anti-EU message.<\/p>\n

Pack up or party on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So how do Liberal Democrats respond? Do we agree that it\u2019s time to pack up as a local force? Or do we continue to argue that there is a place for politics \u2013 and local branches of national parties \u2013 on local councils?\u00a0 No prizes for guessing it\u2019s the second \u2013 for several reasons.<\/p>\n

The first reason is that you can\u2019t have a council with \u2018no politics\u2019. Politics, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is \u201cthe activities of the government\u201d. [2]<\/a> So if you are a council deciding how much to tax people or what to spend the money on, then you are the government, locally, and what you do is political.\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

That is why it is right that groups of Independents need to register as political parties to contest elections \u2013 as Ideal Bradford and others do.<\/p>\n

Okay, the Independents may say, we don\u2019t really mean \u2018no politics\u2019 at all (even though it\u2019s our slogan). We mean no \u2018party politics\u2019. There is no place for national parties on local councils. Nice soundbite. But stop and think about it.<\/p>\n

If you are a Liberal Democrat, or a Tory or Labour, then, love you or loathe you, people have a rough idea of what you stand for. Every Lib Dem has a membership card saying the party exists \u201cto build and safeguard a fair free and open society\u2026.in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.\u201d If that\u2019s \u2018politics\u2019, I\u2019m ok with it.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t belong to a national party, what do you believe? What values are you asking your people to sign up to? People with all kinds of views can march under an \u2018independent\u2019 flag.<\/p>\n

What’s inside\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Sarah Gibson, Wiltshire councillor for Bradford on Avon South, who is standing in the town council by-election, says: \u201cPolitical allegiance is like seeing the ingredients on the bottle. Would you buy something when you don’t know what\u2019s in it?\u201d<\/p>\n

So what do Ideal Bradford\u2019s members share – beyond \u2018no politics\u2019? Three out of the ten Ideal Bradford councillors elected in 2017 have left the group and one has quit both the group and the council, causing the by-election. These councillors have formed a rival group of \u2018purely independent councillors\u2019 called \u2018Independent Bradford on Avon\u2019 which is running its own \u2018Independent\u2019 candidate. There\u2019s so much independence going on round here that we should have the election on the fourth of July.<\/p>\n

The splits illustrate the difficulties that can occur when groups of disparate individuals try to co-exist under an independent banner. As Felicity Matthews, politics lecturer at Sheffield University, puts it, the challenge for Independents is \u201ckeeping the lid on the Smarties tube of characters\u201d once in power.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Nonetheless Ideal Bradford proclaim: \u201cWithout ties to any national party, Ideal Bradford is making our Town Council more efficient, effective, engaged and transparent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Presumably, the logic is that national parties make councils inefficient, ineffective, unengaged and opaque?\u00a0 What\u2019s the evidence? The theory seems to be that national parties constrain local councillors. \u2018All for Dorset\u2019 say their candidates are \u201cfree from interference from a political party.\u201d[4]<\/a> \u00a0One Ideal Bradford member said they aren\u2019t \u201cdriven by overarching national politics\u201d.<\/p>\n

So are local Lib Dems in Bradford on Avon being \u2018interfered with\u2019 or \u2018driven by\u2019 by party HQ? And if so, how? How do national politics interfere with local issues? Where exactly would Vince Cable want that bus stop on Winsley Road?<\/p>\n

The reality is very different – and the clue is in the word \u2018Liberal\u2019. Our policy on local government is the opposite of interference. It is to have \u201cdecisions made at the lowest practicable level.\u201d (Insomniacs can read the whole local government policy paper here<\/a>.) Our councillors at town level make their decisions as individuals and the idea of being \u201cdriven by national politics\u201d is anathema. If Vince Cable tried to tell local Lib Dems what to do, it would make herding cats look effortless.<\/p>\n

If anything, it\u2019s the other way round. Local Lib Dems have a big influence on the leadership, based on their local experience, particularly through their conference votes.\u00a0 They keep the party\u2019s feet on the ground.<\/p>\n

What has politics ever done for us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, why make \u2018politics\u2019 a dirty word? Those of us who have been knocking on doors for a few years are used to hearing \u201cYou\u2019re all the same. You\u2019re all as bad as each other.\u201d Wearily we explain, no, we\u2019re don\u2019t get paid for this. We\u2019d rather be watching TV but we\u2019re here because we think politics matters. We want to make politics better, rather than diminish it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to say \u2018no politics\u2019. It taps into the rising tide of negativity towards all politicians. But if it were not for \u2018politics\u2019, we would have no NHS, no comprehensive education, no votes for women, no gay rights, no minimum wage, no action on climate change, nothing that has ever been achieved in terms of human progress as a result of political debate and legislation. \u00a0And locally we\u2019d have no new housing for local people, no children\u2019s play areas, no support for people with dementia \u2013 and by way of an Ideal Bradford achievement\u2013 no solar panels on the town\u2019s St Margaret\u2019s Hall.<\/p>\n

Ideal Bradford have recently produced a resolution on practical stuff \u2013 with commitments to meeting unmet needs, innovation in community projects, sustainability, and a practical, outcomes-focused approach.\u00a0 We\u2019re happy to work with them on all of that.<\/p>\n

But to come up with the slogan \u2018no politics\u2019 when you are registered as a political party? And to adopt it shortly before a political by-election?\u00a0 You have to ask yourself if the phrase \u2018no politics\u2019 has ever been used more politically.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/62c2dc50-72af-11e9-bf5c-6eeb837566c5<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> https:\/\/dictionary.cambridge.org\/dictionary\/english\/politics<\/a><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/62c2dc50-72af-11e9-bf5c-6eeb837566c5<\/a><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> https:\/\/allfordorset.org.uk\/about-all-for-dorset\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

20 May 2019 \u2018No politics \u2013 just local\u2019. What\u2019s this then? An advert […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13845"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}