Finding candidates

Many moons ago, my late father-in-law was asked to run in an election. He was well-known and respected in the area and would have made a great elected rep.

I gather he was very tempted. He eventually declined. There were all sorts of reasons: he enjoyed his job, he probably wouldn’t have been home much, family life would have suffered and so on.

That was in the 1980s. There was no social media and the climate towards politicians certainly wouldn’t have been as hostile.

Which brings me to now.

I’ve been chatting to people from various parties and each of them in some areas are really struggling to get candidates for next year’s local elections. 

In some cases, parties are struggling to find people to co-opt onto the local council. Nobody in certain areas is willing to take up the position, leading to people not from the Local Electoral Area or not even from the constituency being offered the role of councillor.

The parties aren’t what they used to be, especially in urban areas. The idea that it would be difficult to get someone to actually sit on the council,  never mind actually run in an election, shows how unappealing the role is now.

There also seems to be a higher than usual number of councillors stepping down.

If the current Government continues until 2025, then there will be a 40% gender quota. It may well be quite a challenge for some parties to reach it.