Ros writes in Liberal Democrat News – Election Day, 3rd May

23 March 2007

It’s that time of year again. For most people, daffodils and lengthening evenings leads them to think of gardening, barbeques and evening strolls.  For political activists it’s the start in earnest of local campaigning, leaflets, surveys and canvassing which can now be done as easily during the evenings as at weekends.

The Party’s strength has always been in local government. Outside observers who think its importance has diminished as we have increased our tally of MPs, and have added representatives at Scottish, Welsh and European level to the tally, misunderstand how we Liberal Democrats work.

And its not just that local activists provide the bedrock of campaigning support for these so-called upper tiers of governance, which they undoubtedly do. 

The source of strength is the way in which Liberal Democrat councillors change the lives of the people they represent, by providing a new way of thinking about local communities and how they work.

We’ve  moved a long way since the days Joseph Chamberlain municipalized Birmingham’s gas supply, and London County Council owned the trams, the docks and the hospitals. The Thatcher juggernaut emasculated local councils, although never quite reaching Nicholas Ridley’s nirvana of a council which met but once a year to let the contracts.   Those of us who hoped that the warm words of Labour in opposition would lead to a new age for local government were sadly disappointed as they proved to be every bit as centralising as its predecessor. 

The Bill currently going through Parliament will place all council executive authority in the hands of one person – a mayor or a “strong” leader. No requirement for a referendum, no cognisance of the complexity of local election results, no understanding of the need for checks and balances in all decision making. Their attempt to reduce the role of the backbencher to  a cipher has led them to the refuge of all those who can no longer defend the indefensible – they rename it. Yes, “front-line councillors” are today’s backbenchers, a meaningless piece of sophistry.

And yet, when you might wonder whether the whole game is worth a candle, you see examples all over the country of how Liberal Democrat councillors are changing things, despite all the efforts of central government to tie their hands.

Three things have recently made me see this more clearly than ever.  

The film I made for the Conference rally in Harrogate, in which I visited four Liberal Democrat controlled councils to see the various ways in which they are tackling crime. And from alleygating in Liverpool, to taxi marshals in Newcastle, help for young people in trouble in Abingdon and restorative justice in Watford, you see a Lib Dem approach to problem solving, working with local communities instead of imposing  solutions, creating partnerships across the public, private and community sectors, and coming up with creative, pragmatic answers.

Liberal Democrat council leaders are controlling £10 billion pounds worth of public expenditure and represent many millions of people. The Lib Dem group within the Local Government Association asked me to be one of the judges for the “Council Group of the Year” award, which gave me another opportunity to look at the wide range of initiatives and approaches are being used by our councillors. The winners, Cardiff, are transforming  a city suffering from years of Labour neglect and are demonstrating that changing administration really has meant changing the city.

I was also fascinated by David Boyle’s new book, “Power Actually” in which he takes a close look at what Liberal Democrats in power locally are achieving.

He shows what Liberal Democrat principles mean when they are put into action. Devolutionary, allowing communities to make more decisions for themselves at ward and parish level where the problems are best understood. They are innovative and imaginative, prepared to make the most of the complex partnerships which exists nowadays, and to work with the private sector where it makes sense. And they exercise genuine community leadership, looking beyond the formal remit of the Town Hall to work for the good of the area as a whole.

Getting Liberal Democrats elected on May 3rd is important. Not because it will be seen as a barometer of our success as a party, but because communities need our approach.