From the Chamber: The end of the Council year

Though each Councillor retiring is from a different party, what they have in common is the giving up of their time and their effort to serve the public. We should thank all of them for their contributions to Wokingham and local democracy. 

In addition, a number of seats (one third of the total in the chamber) are scheduled for elections in May. That means that in addition to at least three new faces to replace those retiring, there could be more new faces in the seats where elections are taking place. 

All parties will now be entering full on campaigning mode. The Council itself enters a period of “purdah”. This means the sitting Council cannot leverage it's position to obtain unfair political advantage over other parties in the election. So, decisions taken by the Council during “purdah” are restricted to only those necessary for day to day Council functioning following existing policies. Fresh initiatives will not be announced, as that would be seen to be campaigning. This process applies to all elections held across the country, whether local or a General Election.

As one might imagine, elections are a combination of stress and excitement. Lots of time is given up, with plenty of hard work for everyone involved. From the public point of view an election is the opportunity to choose who they think best represents them. From the elected person’s perspective they are responsible for representing everyone in their ward, regardless of who they voted for. 

It isn’t a perfect system, but as others have said, it works better than the alternatives. Its legitimacy does rely on having a good level of support (i.e., turnout). After all, with no minimum voting number defined, it is theoretically possible for a Councillor to be elected by a single voter, as someone will be chosen to represent you whether you add your vote or not. So do please all go out and vote in May.

The first meeting of the new Council is on the 21 May, when we will see the make up of the council for the coming year, but that’s for another article.