Leadership and vision starts at home
Leadership and vision starts at home – at council level. If all Conservative councillors knew what a Conservative run council looked like, how they could achieve that and then got on with it achieving it – collectively all those Conservaive councils and councillors could do more for communities across the country than all but the most revolutionary Conservative governments.
Can you tell a Conservative council visibly? Political activists will know whether they have a conservative council – but will most normal people? Are normal, non-political people even aware that they have a Conservative council or not? Is the council tax level the only way to tell what is a Conservative council and what isn’t? If the council tax level is the only visible or tangible measure or manifestation of a Conservative council then what motivation is there for those people who do not pay council tax to vote Conservative?
I did some messaging, initially for Eastbourne, which was then reprinted for use around the county for the East Sussex County Council elections. The council are lead by the extremely focused Peter Jones.
The Conservatives in East Sussex had a great story to tell – and it was more than just council tax. I just wonder if there is a different way, another way, for well run true Conservative councils to strut their stuff and show in tangible ways how well they are running the council. Ideally outside of election times and ideally not just framed in terms of levels of council tax.
Running councils well is good for the communities involved. But surely it would be good if the residents knew that their council was working well and that they were worth voting for again. Again this should be tangible and visible and framed in other ways than just the levels of council tax.
It would also have a knock-on effect nationally if the Conservative brand was polished and cared for locally.
