Two weeks since the elections and the new RBWM cabinet has been announced by The Advertiser bringing a mixed bag of emotions which I thought I’d write about this Mental Health Awareness Week.
Let’s just deal with the banana & crisp sandwich which will have driven most of the click throughs 😉 It was lunchtime yesterday, I’d been in my shed all morning tidying up on projects. Came back in to grab a bite before taking the dog out and I thought I’d have a banana. Then the idea of a crisp sandwich jumped into my head, always ready to compromise, a new sandwich was born. Tesco Finest Sea Salt & Black Pepper Crisps for those into the detail.
I lost my seat at the elections which was sad but wasn’t a surprise as most people tend to vote for a brand. In my first election campaign in 2015 I received 200 votes, this time just over 400, last time 950 because I stood under the WWRA brand.
I say “brand” because a Party tends to be active. WWRA hadn’t held an AGM for years, even allowing the party name to dissolve in Feb 2022, which was the reason I resigned and became totally independent. Thing is, 95% of residents don’t know or care what happens behind the scenes. They don’t want the Tories in and so vote WWRA, nothing to do with the names on the ballot paper, all about the history of the brand. This is why there was a last minute rush to re-register the party name.
Politics is a dirty game which is why my wife didn’t want me to stand. She’d often ask, “Why do you want to be around all that negativity?” and I believe it’s because I thought I could do something to change it. I do hope the new administration is the breath of fresh air RBWM needs.
Simon Werner has been at RBWM almost since he left school and so deserves to lead the way. He has been very sensible in inviting Lynne Jones to be his No 2 and lead on finance. Lynne has been holding the administration to account for many years and now she can work on turning this debt ridden juggernaut around. It’ll take more than 4 years but by having a transparent approach, residents will better understand where we are and what needs to happen for us to get on an even keel.
Catherine del Campo was one of the reasons I stood in 2015. She told me how Simon Dudley had used the system to take all the funding for Holyport College and I used my blog to push the information out, seeing over 100 people attend full council. Residents were told that the council could do what they liked and this made me think, the only way you can change things is to be seated around the table.
Having done a term in office I now realise that there are other ways but now know how the system works, so as inspired, I may have to stand up and challenge things.
I have worked alongside Geoff Hill, Karen Davies, Amy Tisi and Josh Reynolds and appreciate they are intelligent people who have the best interests of residents at their heart.
Adam Bermange has the brain the size of a small planet. He has frequently been involved in papers that have been presented and so I can totally understand why he is part of the cabinet in his first term.
I know Richard Coe has worked closely with Simon over the years as a LibDem activist but he has been very vocal on social media, challenging others which he will have to curtail now he’s a Cllr. He has been bemoaning contractual decisions regularly and so now he has a chance to be accountable.
We’ll see how the panels and committees get made up in the coming weeks as each panel choses their Chair for the year.
I look forward to seeing my local councillors bring forth their plans as detailed in their election manifestos. It’ll take a great deal of negotiating to encourage the majority of RBWM councillors to vote for their plans to spend all available resources in West Windsor.
At my handover meeting with the lead officer for democratic services I did express my wish that political campaigns should not contain pie in the sky works of fiction but sadly it doesn’t break the rules!
I also expressed thoughts on helping the new Cllrs by setting expectations. They will all be keen and full of enthusiasm to solve all the problems within hours of taking office but the reality is it takes a year or two to learn the ropes.
Planning is complicated and there is no substitute for experience. Choosing mentors on topics is good practice. I always listened to what Cllr Hilton had to say on planning and that gave me great insight into how to approach my research.
I worked with Helen Taylor on Place O&S and I’m glad to see she will have a role to play in social housing, which is why she got involved in the first place. Her mum would be so proud.
Sitting next to Neil Knowles at Full Council and watching him schmooze the opposition into a false sense of security before landing the power blow. Totally get why he was such a good helicopter pilot… well he tells me he was 😉
I worked very closely with Helen Price and she is a machine, you don’t want to try and keep up… she doesn’t need sleep, simply power naps with one eye open. She’ll obviously be the local Cllr I turn to most with questions as she gets things done.
Good luck to the new Cllrs and I’m happy to be a sounding board as needed.
Thank you to the 419 who voted for me and I would ask residents to look beyond the brand and party names to the Cllrs and judge them on their actions. Take time to look into what they actually achieve over the 4 years and not the fiction of their manifestos.
I probably need a couple more weeks to wean myself off being a Cllr but new opportunities will come in to fill up my community head space and a new chapter will be written…
Thank you.
Jon
Community Champion
