Dear Sir,
In January 2013, The Communities and Local Government Select Committee, reported “many younger people were reluctant to stand in local elections – average age of a councillor being about 60”.
So what can we do to attract younger members to mainstream political parties? Of course with age comes experience; but with age also comes death! The problem in Newton Aycliffe is not that we have a dominant Labour Party; we have cemented that dominance with good governance.
The problem is that we are all growing old together. The surge in Labour Party affiliate membership (those who wished to vote in the Labour Party leadership election) led to some becoming full members, but few are interested in spending two or three evenings a week closeted in meetings with their elders.
One needs to ask is it rational to expect youngsters to want to spend their evenings discussing financial planning. Or to assist and empathise with upset constituents complaining about cars parking on grass verges. Realising that that is a battle long lost, however distressing. Putting one’s head above the parapet is not every ones idea of public service.
The Select Committee considered increasing councillor allowances, to attract prospective councillors. That would not be popular with the electorate. For those interested in serving their town, here is how things work. The town is divided into three, for electoral purposes viz. Aycliffe East, North and West. Those are the town’s County Council boundaries.
There are branch meetings nearly every month. Each area is also subdivided into Town Council wards. There are Town Councillors (30) and County Councillors (7) elected every four years. We are paid an Attendance Allowance. Town Councillors receive about £70 a month. County Councillors receive about £300 a week, plus other benefits.
County Councillors become increasingly anxious about reselection. Some who join the Party just wish to be a member having no wish to attend branch meetings nor stand for election. I am the current Aycliffe East Membership Officer. This role has never been considered to be of any importance. There has never been any genuine desire to attract new members.  I wish to change that.
If you wish to join the Labour Party and you live in the East, please contact me and I will guide you, personally paying 50% of the first years subs for the first two bona-fide younger townspeople who join us. Why has the membership been allowed to decline? I offer an honest opinion about that.
It has never been in the interests of councillors to attract new members. Too many new members would mean that when it came to selection time, the few families and their acolytes that dominate the meetings of a dozen or so members (some only turning up for selection meetings) could face a problem reselecting themselves. This has led to stagnation.
We are mostly aged 65 and older. Eventually there will be a vacuum; we were unable to muster sufficient candidates to stand for our Party in the seats contested throughout the town in the last GATC elections. Before I retire as a councillor – and I do not regard myself as being particularly good, certainly not in the Council Chamber – I would like to see a situation where candidates are selected only on merit and not blood lines.
Where it is not considered to be acceptable to have a (or nearly) full-time job – without making your intentions clear to the electorate pre-election that you intend to keep that full-time job. Then let the voters decide on the voracity of being a County Councillor earning a further £300 a week.
Last year, one County Councillor even boasted to me that they had not followed up concerns that I passed on to them, because they only attended County Hall ‘infrequently’. That is not acceptable!
We cannot always rely on this being a ‘Labour Town’. We need to earn the respect of the electorate in this modern age.  By joining us, you can make a real difference to our town.
If I have enthused any of our younger readers, please contact me.
derekatkinson.labour@gmail.com
Derek G Atkinson
01325 301395