I asked members of local Facebook groups a few questions about local issues and their views on whether local Councillors do a good job at representing them.

Here’s the results – the sample size is 96 people. Any duplicate surveys were removed.

Male or Female

Top 5 Issues

Other issues were speeding, dog fouling, youth facilities, congestion/traffic, over development, infrastructure

Representing Your ViewsCommunication  Overall Opinion To be fair, it’s probably not that shocking that the result is so poor. The public perception of some Councillors is poor and I really think this needs to be worked on.

Why is the perception so poor? We do have some very good Councillors that work very hard for the local community and have achieved great things.

Is it the few bad apples that drives the public perception down? Is it because the public don’t fully understand what a Councillor can and can’t do or is it a case of  communication is so bad that the relationship between politicians and the electorate has broken down? I liken it to a broken marriage. Many people say successful marriages are built on good communication and trust. So is it time for this council to renew it’s vows with the electorate and work on its marriage?

You might also be interest in these posts...

About the author 

James Newport

Essex County Councillor for Rayleigh North, Rochford District Councillor for Downhall & Rawreth and Rayleigh Town Councillor for Sweyne.

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}
>