El Cid Posted April 24, 2015 Author Share Posted April 24, 2015 Councillors don't pay MPs their wages. The public does. There's no conflict of interest. If you think that is the issue, just allow council employees to stand, and then resign if they are elected. ---------- Post added 24-04-2015 at 20:00 ---------- Your OP said city council. Suddenly the NHS has been annexed by SCC. If you'd meant public sector you should have said so even though, as far as I'm aware, only council workers are affected by a ban from standing for the LA they work for. I am just saying that both organisations are publicly funded. I dont see myself as any different from a nurse or teacher. As I posted earlier, my bosses are not councillors, but other council paid employees. Only those at the very top have dealing with councillors. An individual councillor cannot tell a council employee what to do. Councillors have to pass rules in a full council meeting. It would be like myself going into Morrisons and telling the staff what to do; because I was a share holder. ---------- Post added 24-04-2015 at 20:11 ---------- Local councils still run most schools, at least in Sheffield. Not sure about Sheffield, but on 23 September 2014 an article in the Guardian said that 56% of secondary schools in England were Academies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeMaquis Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I am just saying that both organisations are publicly funded. I dont see myself as any different from a nurse or teacher. As I posted earlier, my bosses are not councillors, but other council paid employees. Councillors are the ones that fix annual budgets and make decisions about how many staff to employ. They're the ones who close schools and libraries, build new schools, expand or reduce services, etc. Your immediate bosses don't have the power that councillors have. Not sure about Sheffield, but on 23 September 2014 an article in the Guardian said that 56% of secondary schools in England were Academies. And only 13% of primaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cid Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Councillors are the ones that fix annual budgets and make decisions about how many staff to employ. They're the ones who close schools and libraries, build new schools, expand or reduce services, etc. Your immediate bosses don't have the power that councillors have. MPs and health ministers have loads of power over the NHS, but that does not exclude nurses or doctors from becoming members of Parliament. If there is any conflict of interest, they could stand for election for any role, and then resign if elected. Would a person working for the council have any influence over those that may vote for him/her? ---------- Post added 27-04-2015 at 12:52 ---------- Councillors are the ones that fix annual budgets and make decisions about how many staff to employ. They're the ones who close schools and libraries, build new schools, expand or reduce services, etc. Your immediate bosses don't have the power that councillors have. I guess all schools are affected by new schools being built, but only council school workers are excluded from standing for elections. If council workers were treated the same as civil servants, only those on the top pay scales would be excluded from elections. I guess I am on my own on this one; The Electoral Commission has told me to contact - The Cabinet Office Correspondence Team 70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cid Posted November 14, 2017 Author Share Posted November 14, 2017 I emailed The Cabinet Office and my local MP, neither of them replied. I have sent another email to The Cabinet Office. Perhaps they have been busy arguing about Brexit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewheeldave Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 Isnt democracy seen as a human right, something which is being denied to 20%+ of the adult population. You're right. The knee jerk reaction to anyone who complains about the political system is 'stand for election so you can change things', which, if your figure is right, 20% of the population are barred from doing. Every German who has reached the age of majority, in Germany 18 years, is eligible to stand for election according to the German Basic Law. If you could provide a link to substantiate that, it would disable most of the objections people on this thread are raising, as, it shows that a system which doesn't bar people from standing, can work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cid Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 Eligibility to stand for election Every German who has reached the age of majority, in Germany 18 years, is eligible to stand for election according to the German Basic Law (article 38, paragraph 2 BL). It has to be remarked that the age of majority can be altered by a simple federal law. Eligibility to stand for election presupposes the right to vote. However, some German citizens are not permanent residents of Germany and also do not have the right to vote as a German citizen living abroad. They can still be elected if they meet all the other requirements. Yet, people can be deprived of their eligibility to stand for election in certain circumstances. This can happen in the case of an imprisonment of more than a year as is laid down in § 45, subparagraph 1 in the Strafgesetzbuch, the German criminal law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_system_of_Germany#Right_to_vote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cid Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 You're missing the point. If council staff could be councillors they'd be employing themselves with the taxpayer footing the bill. There'd be massive conflicts of interest. Scotland changed their electoral system, so now local authority employees can stand for election, but they must resign if elected. The Electoral Commission has recommended the same system for the UK. Turnout at the 2017 Scottish local elections was 46.9%, the turnout in the English local election of 2016 was around 34%; my guess would be that Scotland have PR - so there are no wasted votes and that increases turnout. The Tories will not change the voting system, because it keeps them in power. What a disgrace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car Boot Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Myself and 24% of my colleagues cannot stand for the city council because we are employed by them. If you truly cared about local democracy you would resign from your council employment and stand for election. No conflict of interest then, and no barrier to entering public office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cid Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 If you truly cared about local democracy you would resign from your council employment and stand for election. No conflict of interest then, and no barrier to entering public office. I may do that when I am around 60; but I need to be financially stable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car Boot Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Scotland changed their electoral system, so now local authority employees can stand for election, but they must resign if elected. What a disgraceful waste of public money. What is the point of standing for election if the winning candidate is forced to resign? The local authority employee in this situation, who wins an election but then has to resign, should also be forced to pay for the full cost of holding the election and it's rerun. If they can't or won't pay, they should be imprisoned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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