Abstract
If they could find somebody better, I would not be heartbroken, as I don’t really want to be a councillor ...[but] I feel we are letting our own supporters down if we don’t offer them a candidate of the party of their choice. (Monika Beaufort, Labour candidate)
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Notes
Evidence presented to the Widdicombe committee demonstrates that 83 per cent of all candidates are party members and that over 30 per cent of independents are also members of political parties. Gyford et al. (1989) suggest that in 1987, 90 per cent of councillors were party members.
Ethnic minorities also appear to be significantly under-represented and particularly so in areas where they constitute a sizeable proportion of the local community, but there are no reliable data.
As they then were.
This definition is to some extent at odds with the popular use of the term.
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© 1991 Jacqueline Barron, Gerald Crawley and Tony Wood
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Barron, J., Crawley, G., Wood, T. (1991). Local Politicians: Ambition or Drift?. In: Councillors in Crisis. Public Policy and Politics. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21504-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21504-1_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
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