Yesterday I had sore feet, today I have sore hands! I have written a letter to all of the people registered for a postal vote enclosing leaflet two on the basis that they could well return their votes before the second leaflet run next weekend. I also wrote letters to the addresses that we couldn’t get access to enclosing both leaflets. I also did a couple of streets that were overlooked yesterday.

I left a few people off the write-to list where I recognised their names from local politics. If they feel the need to vote against their instincts then I’ll just rely on the door leaflet to sway them rather than wasting a stamp!

I thought about standing for the Town Council last year but my Wife talked me out of it- I was busy enough already and perhaps I should wait until I became an embarassment to my son in his teen years. What has changed this year? Well, retirement from Round Table has released some free time and having met a number of local politicians through her job, Mrs. Grey realises that they are not all bad!

I wrote a letter to the local press in April 2003 which I reprint here.

Dear Sir,

I see that the race is on for the Town Council elections and Labour are first off the blocks with their announcement that they are contesting all 24 seats across the six Wards.

Whilst I have never considered myself political, I went along to observe the full Council in action after the Heritage days last year and would encourage others to do the same- I found it fascinating and surprisingly compelling- I’ve been to every one since.

I’m not a native Morliean, I’m not even a Tyke, I’ve only lived here 10 years but since becoming a Parent I now regard Morley as my home rather than where my house is.

I think the Town Council is a good thing- it is not perfect but it has started to achieve results. Whilst it is admirable that the local Labour Party would like to win all 24 seats a brief glance towards Westminster shows all too clearly the detrimental effect of ineffective opposition- laws rushed through without enough careful consideration and the scourge of spin- style above substance.

I would like Morley Town Council to make decisions based on collaboration rather than the mixture of confrontation and submission that Party Politics demands of its participants. It should also be a “Critical Friend” of Leeds, pointing out the raw deal Morley often gets but then working with Local Government to improve it. That doesn’t need big increases in our local Precept to achieve on a “we know best-tax & spend” basis. It should be Parochial rather than Partisan.

The Town Council will never reach the heights of Local Government as it was before 1974- the Town and Parish models are closer in powers to the Vicar of Dibley than Millennium Square!

How can we all help? By looking at all of the leaflets that come through our letterboxes, reading the papers and trying to reach informed decisions about the prospective candidates & their motives for standing. Do they live or work here? Are they approachable? Do they like the sound of their own voice? Do they have inflated opinions of their own self-importance? Do they have a passion for our town? Having met and talked to many of them I realise they should not all be tarred with the same brush as we disparage our professional politicians- they are ordinary people who want to put something back.

The May 1st elections will be an interesting challenge for National Government. Many of us may decide to vote based on what is going on in Iraq, or how much our April pay packet has gone down after the latest tax grab by Prudence. Some will vote for the BNP candidate, misled by the hysterical media coverage about Asylum Seekers swamping our Ports of entry. Some will vote the same as their parents did, looking for the little symbol that they are comfortable with, whether Rose or Beacon.

Lots of us will be totally indifferent and not bother voting at all- a sure sign that Party Politics is morally bankrupt.

As to myself? I’ll be brandishing the pencil on May 1st then watching the count on May 2nd. I can’t second-guess the outcome but whatever happens it will be fascinating to be there. I wouldn’t miss it for the world- our own real-life soap opera!

Having re-read the letter, it still rings true and I stand by my words. Not a lot has changed in the big scheme of things, although locally the “Morley Borough Independents” gave Labour a big shock last month and Leeds City Council is now in “NO OVERALL CONTROL”.

A small band of helpers assembled at Hembrigg car park to start the process of leaflet dropping at the unearthly hour of 7am. (Well unearthly for a weekend!). I don’t envy postmen at all- difficult gates, awkward letterboxes, frenzied dogs….

75% of the ward now leafleted with the promise of the remainder by a couple of helpers who were working today. Some will need to be posted, some sheltered housing in the Britannia Road area has no access. It is strange to see familiar buildings from unfamiliar perspectives on foot rather than trundling past.

One lady said mine was her first leaflet & no sign of any signage by the “opposition” yet. Tonight will be spent mostly addressing envelopes….

Here is a sneak preview of my leaflet, due to be delivered on Saturday morning. It is folded A4 forming a small booklet.

The front cover has the quick message- Council election, vote Grey. The back cover reinforces that I am candidate two on the voting slip, due to being in alphabetical order. The centre pages are a bit about me and some info about independents in general.

Whilst I don’t like overly blowing my own trumpet, it has been necessary to sell myself to the voters, most of who will not know me from Adam.

Why purple? It is mid way between red and blue which matches my centrist/libertarian philosophy. It isn’t regarded as a mainstream political colour, which is why I chose it for the MTC Website last year. It is a modest colour compared to others (particularly lime green!) and my little Fiesta is also purple so I have grown used to it.

I have decided to start a Weblog, or Blog, for short. It is a type of online diary and I will use it to track my campaign to try and get elected onto Morley Town Council. There is already a month of activity since deciding to stand but I will try to pick up on the story & fill in the gaps as I go along.

So far, I have written to the local papers to correct the spelling of my name, sent them my photo & biography, persuaded some of the other independents to help me drop leaflets, found a printer, found a publisher (the irrepressable Cllr Judith Elliott), designed the flyers with a lot of help and advice from other Councillors and planned when to start leafleting. There are 2,200 houses in Elmfield Ward so I am going to pick up 4,600 leaflets tomorrow from the Printers, a very helpful place in Queen’s Road near Morley high School.. I’ll not sleep soundly until I see that they are correct, they never did show me the proofs as promised but the Boss personally corrected the typos so I’m not really worried…

I am entitled to spend no more than £400.30 on my campaign, based on an allowance of £242 then 4.7p per voter (& there are 3,368 of them).

In reality, I don’t want to spend even half that as it is my money, out of my own pocket. The Party Candidates will probably have it covered by their Constituency offices but other than holding a Jumble Sale, Independents have to fund themselves.

I met one of my opponents at the Town Council Meeting last night, Jean Lancaster standing for Labour. A very pleasant & friendly lady, well known in the community and likely to be a worthy opponent. We wished each other the best as we are both new to political participation and have essentially the same goals in mind, party politics aside. I’m not sure that her first visit to the Town Council was entirely what she expected, being based on formal rules of debate & ceremony at the full monthly meetings.

Jean has already managed to get onto the front page of the Morley Advertiser although the banner headline was

“Anti-privatisation petition branded as electioneering

SPORTS

CENTRE

OUTCRY”

Alas, I don’t have a friendly MP readily available to provide a photo-opportunity!

Ian Grey’s Biography Biography Standing for Morley Town Council

BLOG- regular campaign updates- click here

Terry Grayshon is standing as a Morley Borough Independent in nearby Central Ward for the By-Election happening at the same time as the Elmfield vote, on Thursday July 22nd. He is also opposed by both Labour and BNP candidates. As Terry has been kind enough to include a link to this site I am delighted to reciprocate here and wish him well in his campaign.

Whilst I’m not a “Morley Borough Independent” (which is actually formally registered as a political party, apparently due to Leeds City Council playing silly beggars in recent times) I am satisfied that they are not a political party in the traditional sense of the word, i.e. accepting the party whip & using the blunt instruments of conflict & submission to (mis)manage. Indeed having known the various individuals for some time now, the phrase “herding cats” comes to mind for any approach other than collaboration.

-oOo-

This Web page contains the details sent to the Morley Advertiser and Observer in early July for candidate information relating to the Elmfield Ward by-election on July 22nd. Morley is a town of about 50,000 people on the south western outskirts of Leeds, West Yorkshire and was a Borough in its own right until 1974.

Ian Grey - An introduction

• Ian is 46 and lives in Morley

• He is married with one Son

• He works in telecommunications

• He is a Trustee of the Communications Management Association

Community Activities

• Local Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator

• Parent Governor at a Primary School

• Treasurer of School PTA

• Volunteer Webmaster for Morley Town Council

• Member of Morley Civic Society

• Involved in Right to Read schemes in Bradford

• Former active member in Round Table (now too old!)

• Chief firer at Needless Fireworks display since 2001

• Recently raised £400+ abseiling for kidney research

• Regular presenter to Yr11/6^th formers in West Yorkshire

• Has served on Committees since 1974

More info about Ian’s interests can be found at http://www.delicolor.org.uk/

Last updated July 7th 2004