Stand up and be counted
Who will stand for election?
candidates who will appear at the last minute with “My friends and neighbours convinced me to stand”.
If you need convincing to serve the public – we don’t want you either, mate.
With apologies to JFK, we need people who are already asking themselves what they can do for their community – not what their community can do for them.
At the 2012 election, the public’s indecision was final – and we got a council set- up only the councillors actually wanted.
The Tory vote dropped by 6% and they lost two seats. The Nats polled a 4% increase and gained a seat. Labour dropped 4% and kept their nine seats.
The Tories did a deal with Labour for overall control... leaving 11,000 SNP voters wondering what the heck had happened. And they’re still wondering... If the local elections had been in 2015 – I could have got my tartan tea flask onto the council. The Nats were on a roll ... and it wasn’t a bacon one.
It will be interesting to see who they put up – and what local policies they put up – in the months ahead.
The Conservatives will have to reshuffle their pack – they’ve lost aces in Bill McIntosh and Bill Grant... and a name like Margaret Toner and Hugh Hunter don’t frighten anybody.
And Labour need an injection of new talent and enthusiasm. Let’s face it, if you were campaigning for the Troon seat – would you take Jeremy Corbyn door to door?
But for the race to begin – we need to know ALL the runners.
It’s time to name names.