Parish Councillors: Party Affiliated? Or Independent?

Independent councillors make up the bulk of Parish/Town Councils. At the local level, people like local independents not party apparatchiks.

In my earlier posts (Start Here) I have discussed how a small party could gain significant influence at the Parish Council level right across the country without even having to win a vote. I've often used the Social Democratic Party as an example.

What should such a small party brand their councillors as? 

Do they put them up on a party ticket?

Sad as it may seem, many view small party's with suspicion. Meanwhile standing on a ticket for larger party (and taking on the Parliamentary baggage that comes with it) would in all likelihood be even worse. 

At the Parish/Town council level, a candidate that describes themselves as "Independent" is viewed positively.

But there is no rule or law against standing as an independent candidate while then qualifying your independent status. 

In fact many councillors qualify their independent status already. 

Today you often get candidates stating they are Independent but representing a residents association, or independent but "standing up" for this or that local campaign.

So there would to be no reason that a candidate could not stand as: 

“Independent – affiliated to this or that Party.” 

But so what? 

They ARE independent. Just using the facilities on offer from a party they align with to service their job. That does not compromise their independence but clearly gives an strong idea where they are coming from politically.

This has another by-product.

Many (most?) of the country's Parish Councillors who stand as independents would love to benefit from a party support base. But they would not want to compromise their independent status by standing on a party ticket.

Wouldn’t be nice to be able to offer them some support from the party support base as well? (See last post) Many would jump at it and as a result would probably become valuable supporters.

No strings. No towing the party line. But if your views mostly align with the party in question you get the support.

Just change “Independent” to “Independent – affiliated to this or that party”.

But it all hinges on their being a proper structured support for Parish councillors from the party wishing to implement this. 

Otherwise it is a waste of time.

Here's the full set of posts on this topic:

The Social Democratic Party - Where Now?

The SDP and the Brexit Party

Local Politics and the Low Hanging Fruit

Arming the Parish Councillors

Parish Councillors: Party Aligned? or Independent? (this post)

Parish Councils Are Dying: So What?