Monthly Archive for May, 2007

Independents win control in West Somerset Local Council Elections May 2007

Published on May 4, 2007 in Exmoor and West Somerset and Independent Councillors. 0 Comments

Individual determination and the long standing dissatisfaction of the West Somerset Council electorate yesterday successfully combined to overcame the glossy leaflet campaign launched by the entrenched Conservative majority in the Local Council Elections of May 3rd 2007.

Those Independent Councillors who are now newly elected and who have, arguably, achieved a triumph of the individual against the organisation, may well feel justified in taking some time off from politics during this Bank Holiday weekend to enjoy some quiet satisfaction (and rest their sore feet).

Sadly though, the journey has only just begun and their election success is only a first step along a very rocky road to achieving genuine progress for West Somerset.

The next step is to exercise control over a West Somerset Council bureacracy that may well yet have it’s own agenda and be very prepared to promote it vigorously.

Indeed, the many intricacies of Local Government regulations could easily trip up any unwary newly elected and Independent Local Government Councillors and yet prevent them implementing the wishes of the electorate.

It is vital that the community values of open cooperation and political inclusion that have brought these private individuals into public office are now placed at the head of a new and publicly stated open Government agenda for West Somerset.

Time is short and the Tory Party machine and 13 elected Conservative Councillors wait in the wings ready to take advantage of any slip.

The community of West Somerset has propelled these 16 new Independent Councillors into power and it is now vital that they make full use of the e-democratic collective intelligence of the West Somerset community to overcome the policy challenges that have bedevilled West Somerset and Exmoor for too long.

I firmly believe that involving all the community in policy discussion using modern e-democracy systems is not an optional extra, but is a necessary pre-requisite to further success.

What do you think about e-Government?

Rob

Election web space for West Somerset, UK Council Elections

Published on May 1, 2007 in election web space. 0 Comments

Election experts are keeping a close eye on voting in the Minehead area to see if a new information campaign can boost the response to this week’s poll for seats on West Somerset Council.

Candidates hoping to win a seat on West Somerset Council local elections have been offered free space on the internet to woo voters.

Residents of Minehead & surrounding area are now able to click on to their local site to see what the rival candidates have to say. Organisers of the information campaign say they are hoping to plug an information gap and encourage more people to vote in the local elections. In some places less than a third of the electorate has bothered to vote in recent years.

“More and more people are using the internet to compare prices and compare products, so we don’t see why they shouldn’t be able to choose their councillor in the same way,” comments local organiser Clara Lawrie.

There are 30 candidates standing for the 18 contested seats in the TA24 area. Clara Lawrie has contacted all of them with the offer of free web space for a short statement saying why people should vote for them.

Her approach has been approved by the national body representing council election officers.

“Unfortunately some people will not get a single piece of candidate information through their door. There needs to be more joined up thinking about how to provide better information to electors,” says Malcolm Dumper from the Association of Electoral Administrators.

The organisers of the web campaign, who are independent of any political party, hope this week’s local elections will lead to greater use of the AboutMyArea websites, run by the community for the community, for politicians and councils to explain what they do all year round.