Alastair Cunnington

Two Locks & Henllys

You have three votes which you can do what you like with, If you want, you can use just one vote to ensure that a paricular candidate you favour is elected, or just two if you prefer or, if you want to share the vote for a balance, then all three.

If you are not happy with the service you have had during the last four years now is the time to change that

If you would either - like a change of face, like a change of idea, voted for me last time or are a member of a political party who doesn’t have a candidate then I would like you to consider giving me one of those votes.

Last election I failed to get elected by about a dozen votes, my own fault -I forgot about sending manifestos to the 800 postal voters! So this time if you are teetering on voting for me, please take the trouble to make the effort to vote for me - I guarantee that if I am elected, I will do whatever I can for you within my power, should the need arise.

For you to fairly compare profiles I have provided the following link to the Councillors you voted in at the last Torfaen County Borough Council election and who  have represented you  until now:
http://www.torfaen.gov.uk/Whos who/CouncillorDirectory.aspx

I believe that I am the right person and the right age to serve the community as I am wholly in touch with all the day to day problems as everyone else because,

At 51 I’m young enough to still consider buying a sports car, if I could afford it…I still go to rock concerts, I find The Pub Landlord, Jethro & The Office hilarious, I run a business so I have to work for a living to pay the mortgage. I have a young family and as you may imagine, enjoy all the usual problems plus I look after an elderly mother.

At 51 I am old enough to remember Watch with Mother, Led Zepplin when Robert Plant didn’t have grey hair and a beard, Crackerjack …with Peter Glaze and I don’t find Friends remotely funny at all… I’m also old enough to remember the train crossing the road at the Wireworks by the Railway pub in Two Locks… and Henllys when it was only The Dorallt, Parc Close, The Rows and Sunnybank - consequently I am deeply interested in the welfare and development of our community and in particular making the community safe for everyone - and to support this, I actively put something back into public life by serving as a Magistrate.

However a worrying  statistic just published is the average age of Councillors in Wales and the length of time some councillors have served.

Because someone has been a councillor a long time doesn’t mean that they are in touch or effective - ultimately councils need a balance of objective people from a wide cross section of the community to ensure that every persons needs are considered.

Here is the report just published which highlights the average age of councillors, which is quite high. Where does this leave the  younger section of the community in respect of empathy  with day to day problems

 Councillors ‘not getting younger’

Polling station
More than 3,000 candidates are standing the polls on 1 May

*Welsh councillors are not getting any younger, BBC Wales research has found.*

That is despite the assembly government offering “golden goodbyes” to long serving councillors in 2004 to encourage more diversity of candidates.

The average age of councillors is still 61 in the 10 local authorities surveyed four years ago. Across Wales it is 40, while 40% of councillors are over 65.

There has been a slight increase in the number of women councillors but they hold less than a quarter of seats.

The image of ‘”old, white men” running local authorities prompted the last assembly government to offer some councillors a cash incentive if they stood down in the 2004 election.

A total of 79 members, from the eight local authorities that participated in the scheme, did take up the offer. It cost the taxpayer over £1.6m.

There was a drop in the average age of councillors after that local election but BBC Wales has discovered the effect in 10 particular council areas has been limited.

    
COUNCIL MAKE-UP
Town hall (generic)
Six councils have no member under the age of 35
396 councillors (40.8%) are 65 or over
Only 32 (3.3%) of councillors are under 35
Average age of councillors is 40
78% are men and 22% are women
1% are from ethnic minorities
/*Source: Information from 17 of 22 Welsh councils, March 2008, for BBC Wales*/

In March 2004, according to the 10 local authorities who had kept the information, the average age of councillors before the election of that year was 61.

Four years on, the average age in those 10 areas remains 61 as the local elections once again loom.

Blaenau Gwent and Bridgend councils saw the biggest rise, while Powys had the most noticeable drop.

The main political parties have made an effort in recent years to find younger candidates and to encourage more women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds to stand in local elections.

Seventeen of the 22 Welsh councils gave BBC Wales an age breakdown of their members for March this year.

Just over 40% are 65 or over, with fewer than 10% of councillors under 44 years old.

There are only 32 (3.3%) who are under 35.

There has been some success in improving gender balance, according to the research.

*Effort*

The trend of having more women councillors continues but at a slow pace. In 2004, 20% were women - this has risen to 22%.

If that rate of change was to continue it would be 60 years from now, 2068, before the gender split on Welsh councils would reflect the current balance in the population of Wales.

There is a similar pattern for people from ethnic minority backgrounds. The 2004 election saw a drop in the number of councillors who described themselves as being of mixed, Asian or Black heritage to less than 1%.

According to the last census, just over 2% of the Welsh population described themselves as being from ethnic minority communities.

Come 1 May this could all change. The main political parties say they are making an effort to promote diversity in their candidates.

On Tuesday it was confirmed that more than 3,000 candidates had been officially nominated to stand in Wales 22 local authorities.

Voters have until 16 April to ensure that they are registered to cast their ballot.

I’m at the right age now and ready to do the job.