Politics is not for everyone, well actually politics is FOR everyone just some choose not to take an active role in it.

To quote Daisy Benson (note the name, you will hear a lot more from her in the coming weeks, months, years) “politics is not a profession of choice, it is a vocation”.  Those of us who work and hopefully get elected in public roles do so because we want to help people and make a difference. We certainly don’t enter into politics to get rich (also quoting Daisy).

Especially at the moment with EU, party splits, the unknown etc. politics looks like a quagmire, it wasn’t helped, in previous years, by expenses scandals, austerity etc etc need I go on. Unfortunately this tars all politicians from parish upwards with the same brush and associated image.

As you can imagine we are not actually all the same, the vast majority are hard working, caring and community focused. To get all the cliches out of the way, there is always bad eggs in every batch.

So how can I try to explain why politics is for everyone?

A recent conversation may just help (it’s a bit geeky but stick with it). Imagine you had a PC but it didn’t have an operating system such as Windows on it (other operating systems are available). What would your PC actually do? It would power up and sit there with a blank screen. Politics is just the same, if we didn’t have politics and politicians then nothing would happen, no decisions would be taken, no funding for schools, roads and your bins wouldn’t get emptied, the list goes on.

We need a structure. You could argue the structure is wrong, Windows isn’t perfect, nor is OSX, Linux etc. but they serve a purpose. So do politicians.

To take the analogy one step further computers get viruses, corrupted by unscrupulous people who want to corrupt the system for their own gains. So does politics and just like your computer we need to get rid of these from the system.

Your local Councillors and in most cases your MP are there to help, there for you in hour of need (a vocation, not a profession and not to get rich).

We have to make decisions and know we can’t please everyone, but tough decisions have to be taken, not to do so is not an option. We have to make, take, the option that we believe is right for our community, or Country in case of MP’s.

So in the next few weeks, on the doorstep when we call, we respect that you don’t DO politics, but are genuinely interested in your views of your community. You could also help us by completing this if you live in Yeovil Constituency, Yeovil, Chard, Crewkerne, Illminster… :

Can you spare a few minutes to complete our summer survey? (Yeovil Constituency ONLY please)

Your opinions matter and can help shape the future of your local area (click on pic to take part in survey)

 

 

Thank you

Cllr Rob Stickland

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