As Halloween and then Christmas beckon, one’s thinking begins to turn to next year. 2027 brings elections, not for a unitary council, as local government reorganisation in our area has been paused, but for the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk. It will be an interesting election in these volatile times – look at how much polls have changed recently – and I look forward to once again standing.
I remember in December 2022 seeing an email from the Labour Party calling for candidates. I was quite busy, a few months into the teaching job that had brought me to Downham Market, but I indicated interest. No Labour councillor had been elected in Downham since 1976 but the 2019 result suggested a slim possibility. A few months later I was a candidate, delivering leaflets and knocking on doors, and in May 300 people had voted me in (I did also vote for myself).
I have had a good experience serving, and I think it is important that we do have some younger councillors who are working full-time, leavening their perspectives with other valuable experiences that longer-serving colleagues bring. Now closer to thirty, I certainly know a lot more about local government than four years ago, and after many newsletters, definitely know the streets of my ward far more clearly.
Being an elected representative has occasionally meant getting shouted at or attending yet another long meeting on a dark winter evening, but I do not regret representing my ward, talking to people and trying to help solve their problems. Politics is important, as Prime Minister Andy Burnham made clear when he began setting out his plans to reform social care recently. Not everyone will agree with changing the triple lock, but there is a great case for doing so, and we cannot continue to give up on social care reform because it is difficult.
If you think you can help your local community by representing them, you should consider standing. There are plenty of different parties, and parish and town councils for the most local representation. 2027 may see the first election for a town council for King’s Lynn. Standing for office is not everyone’s idea of a New Year’s resolution, but I have been impressed these last four years of the work that goes in locally from councillors across politics. The tremendous efforts of the staff and officers that implement democratic decisions must also be recognised, and everyone – on all sides – will be looking for some new people coming forward.
On Saturday 17th October it was good to take part alongside hundreds of others in Lynn’s Tuesday Market Place, demonstrating to show the public’s views on a potential downgrade of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s services. The rain came down while our ‘queue’ was formed, but the cardboard signs showing how far people might need to travel to Norwich if some services are lost were able to survive and make their point.
There were at least nine Borough councillors present, including one operating a drone for arial photos. We had not one but two MPs speaking to concerned residents as well, helping to show the wide catchment that the QEH has. The Borough Council unanimously passed a motion at our last full council meeting to make the importance of retaining services clear, and councillors have also had a panel meeting for scrutiny. Politics is all about choices and priorities. One does not always get exactly what you want, but in this, and on other issues, from Westminster to King’s Lynn, people are certainly trying. And I will be delivering another newsletter.
JOSH OSBORNE
Borough Councillor for Downham Old Town