Our New County Councillor
Jim Webber (pictured above with Liberal Democrat Party President Josh Babarinde) is our freshly minted County councillor for Henstead Division and we caught up with him to ask a few questions.
What would you like to say to everyone who voted for you?
Firstly, a massive thank you. Liberal Democrats are known as community champions “fixing the church roof” according to Kemi Badenoch. I hope to demonstrate that (not literally) and to show the benefits of voting on local issues at local elections.
I heard “politicians are all the same” too often on the doorstep. I hope to prove them wrong.
I know that for many voters I was the ‘least worst’ candidate. (I can live with that, I have been married to Sara for over 40 years despite being the ‘least worst’ option)
More seriously, I realise that I won the Division of Henstead by only 70 votes, possibly thanks to tactical voting. This is important given that Reform was so close to taking a majority of the seats on the County Council. The new Council will inevitably be highly political. I won’t let that affect my focus on local people and local issues.
How will you face the challenges this coming year at County Council?
Positively, proactively and with hope in my heart (I am always a glass half full man, however unfashionable that is).
My last full-time job was at a university in East London with many overseas students and others from local ethnic populations. I would ask them about how they liked living in the UK, how safe they felt on the streets, about racism. Their love for the UK and its liberal democracy was immense – and the comparisons that they drew with other countries including the USA put us in a very favourable light. Sometimes you need to step away in order to get a good view of the real situation.
But we also need to be honest about the challenges we face – including youth opportunities, a failure of public and private sectors to train a workforce for the future and a benefits system that is no longer fit for purpose – paying too much to some and not enough to others.
The worst part of canvassing was meeting hard working people, with proper jobs, struggling to make ends meet and no hope of a holiday. These are mainly Westminster problems, but I am prepared to work on a cross-party basis to do what I can to improve the situation for those in the most need.
What are your hopes and priorities for Norfolk?
We need to be realistic about what this new Council can achieve. If the timetable for Local Government Reform is achieved, the Council will only have a lifespan of two years and much of councillors and senior staff’s time should be spent in managing the transfer of resources to the three new Unitary Authorities planned for Norfolk.
While controversial, I believe that the Government’s plans for Devolution and Local Government Reform will deliver long term benefit for the region.
We will get more funding from Westminster and decisions will be made closer to the voting population. The Mayor for Norfolk and Suffolk will have a louder voice at Westminster and can speak up for this region. I think it is right and proper that this an important priority for the new County Council.
I want to see more done to help young people locally, particularly in creating more opportunities to move from education into employment, and introducing our manifesto goal of a Youth Bus Pass.
The cost of petrol and heating oil is adding to the cost-of-living crisis in our rural communities; we must see how the Council can help the situation.
My final priority is to deliver on our manifesto commitments on special needs education (SEND). Inadequate provision does not help our children. I was surprised how often this issue came up on the doorstep – from parents, teachers and SEND specialists.
Funding is a key constraint, but as a county and as a country we need to invest much more in our future.