Wherever I lay my hat
February 25, 2013 1 Comment
Does it matter where a councillor lives? In representing a ward some affinity must exist, but I do not think one has to live in a ward to adequately empathise with its residents.
‘He would think this’ I can almost hear some say; after all, I do not reside in Milton ward, the place I have represented on Southend-on-Sea Borough Council for the last ten months. I reside about a mile from the ward (the nearest bit to me is Valkyrie Road, and my home is closer to this than if I had resided in the ward at Herbert Grove, for instance). I was born in Westcliff-on-Sea (in the downstairs front room of 401 Fairfax Drive) and have twice lived in Milton: Park Road (1977) and Palmeira Avenue (1978 – 1983). I have family members in the ward today. I think there is a good connection.
I think it matters more what one stands for. However, the leader of the local Conservative group has raised the subject of where I live, and that it is not in the ward I represent. Since it would be very short-sighted to highlight this issue without seeking to remedy similar failings in his own party, I have reproduced below a table showing all the Conservative councillors in Southend-on-Sea, the ward they represent and where they live.
| Ward represented | Where they reside | |
| Richard Brown | Chalkwell | Southchurch |
| Louise Burdett | Kursaal | West Shoebury |
| Trevor Byford | Eastwood Park | Prittlewell |
| Sally Carr | St Luke’s | Thorpe |
| Maria Caunce | Milton | Milton |
| James Courtenay | Blenheim Park | Southchurch |
| Tony Cox | West Shoebury | West Shoebury |
| Elizabeth Day | West Shoebury | West Shoebury |
| Margaret Evans | Belfairs | West Leigh |
| Mark Flewitt | St Laurence | St Laurence |
| Jonathan Garston | Milton | Milton |
| David Garston | Southchurch | Southchurch |
| Stephen Habermel | Chalkwell | Chalkwell |
| Roger Hadley | Shoeburyness | Shoeburyness |
| Nigel Holdcroft | West Leigh | West Leigh |
| Ann Holland | Southchurch | Great Wakering |
| Gwendoline Horrigan | West Leigh | Eastwood Park |
| Derek Jarvis | West Shoebury | West Shoebury |
| Adam Jones | St Laurence | Barling Magna |
| Brian Kelly | Southchurch | West Shoebury |
| John Lamb | West Leigh | West Leigh |
| Andrew Moring | Eastwood Park | Thorpe |
| Ian Robertson | Chalkwell | Thorpe |
| Lesley Salter | Belfairs | Chalkwell |
| Christopher Walker | Eastwood Park | Eastwood Park |
Whilst a number represent the wards they live in, most do not. Some live quite some distance from their wards, and two live do not even live in Southend-on-Sea.
Can I presume that there will be some Conservative de-selections in the near future?
The issue of where I lived was not raised by the Conservatives in last May’s campaign, and that was because the defending Conservative councillor (Nigel Folkard) lived further away from the ward than me.
I have corrected this post to show Cllr James Courtenay’s true home ward, Southchurch (and not Kursaal). In my defence I used the council website to get this data, and in this case their data is wrong.