Dear Sir,

In 2017 Labour won 21 seats out of 30 on the Town Council. They had 17 Councillors who were unopposed in 17 seats out of 30. 1 Conservative and 12 Independent candidates stood for election, 9 Independents were elected (5 men and 4 women). If 30 Independents and others had stood, Labour would likely have lost control of the Council.

We were going to run some training courses in 2020 for those who might want to consider standing as a councillor. The next elections for Town Council are on 6th May 2021.

The Courses would have involved:

Who can stand, How to stand, Timetable of Elections, Election Addresses, Leaflets, The Processes, Rules of Debate, Code of Conduct, Declaring Interests, Social Media, Standing Orders, Chairing meetings and so forth – It’s not rocket science.

The idea is that if you know what is involved you can better decide if it’s what you want to do, in plenty of time, then if you stand and get elected you are ready from day one of becoming a councillor to do the job.

Ideally we could do with 15 women and 15 men standing. From all backgrounds, experience and knowledge. We want Independents, Lib Dems, Conservatives as well as Labour. But such that no one political group has overall control of the Council and Councillors have to work together, co-operate for the good of the community.

We need to remove the Labour Party’s dictatorial control, the one-party state mentality on the Council. Bring common sense, a balanced Council, with open minds, to the issues affecting our residents. What is best for our community without the tribalism that Labour sticks rigidly to.

Councillors have three main components to their work:

Decision making – through meetings and attending committees with other elected members, councillors decide which activities to support, where money should be spent, what services should be delivered and what policies should be implemented.

Monitoring – Councillors make sure that their decisions lead to efficient and effective services by keeping an eye on how well things are working.

Getting involved locally – as local representatives, councillors have responsibilities towards their residents. These responsibilities and duties often depend on what the councillor wants to achieve and how much time is available, and may include:

• Going to meetings of local organisations such as tenants’ associations;

• Going to meetings of bodies affecting the wider community;

• Taking up issues on behalf of members of the public;

• Meeting with individual residents.

Are you interested?

If so, please send your name, address and contact details to:

Cllr Arun M Chandran, 88 Honister Place, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 7DN

email: arunmchandran@aol.com

Cllr Ken Robson, 35 Priestman Road, Newton Aycliffe DL5 4EY

email: kenrobson71@gmail.com

Cllr Arun M Chandran and Cllr Ken Robson

Putting You the Community First