Independent: The Rise of the Non-Aligned Politician

Our Kingdom

2008-05-28T10:53:00.002+01:00

The Open Democracy e-journal has launched a new project called Our Kingdom, a conversation on the future of the UK. Our Kingdom is running a series of articles on local politics. I wrote the tenth in the series, discussing the potential strengths and weaknesses of local parties.

I reproduce here, but you can also find it at this link. Or the whole series at this link.

LOCAL MATTERS X: THE RISE OF THE LOCAL PARTY by Richard Berry

Stuart Weir began this series with a piece lamenting the over-centralisation of the British state, and an anonymous poster responding to this made the argument that local government itself is acquiescent with this situation. I believe the analysis of why local authorities do not make more vociferous demands for autonomy has to take into account the party origins of most local politicians.

As has been the norm for decades, a large majority of local councillors represent national political parties. Most people join a party, quite rightly, because of the national vision they present, for their position on overriding debates around civil liberties or the distribution of wealth. This is surely a key reason why many councillors do not push more strongly for devolution; although they may be dedicated local public servants, the things that motivated their entry into politics have little to do with the business of local government.

But a new breed of politician has emerged in recent years: one that appears solely concerned with local issues. These are those members of 'local parties,' who have been making a big splash in many parts of the country. Perhaps the most famous example is the Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern party, which formed in protest at a planned hospital closure. This group even has a Member of Parliament, Dr Richard Taylor; more importantly, it also took control of Wyre Forest council. As have the Boston Bypass Independents, who took an amazing 27 out of 32 seats on the local council in a campaign for a better road network in Lincolnshire.

These parties both grew out of single issue campaigns, but others - such as the Community Action Party in Wigan or Blaenau Gwent People's Voice - began with a broader remit and have also succeeded. One of the distinctive characteristics of these groups is that they do not impose a party whip on their councillors, unlike the national parties. The whip does have its use in political life, but is severely over-used in local government. At this level a more consensual, inclusive style of decision-making than we find nationally might be expected, but in fact the opposite is the case. For instance, national party groups on local authorities tend to operate a much tighter reign over council scrutiny committees than Gordon Brown or David Cameron do with their parliamentary equivalents, Select Committees. So local parties can give far greater autonomy to local councillors.

Another strength of local parties is that they help to stop local elections being seen simply as 'second order' national elections. The contests on May 1st were seen in the media as a battle between Gordon Brown and David Cameron, but this was not the case. When a local party is in contention, voters' minds are more focused on local issues.

However, some local parties have been known to struggle after an initial spurt of growth, usually when internal disputes develop. Health Concern combined former Conservative and Labour members in its ranks, who began to have policy disagreements after the party won executive power. In Wigan, Community Action found that members had different ideas of the purpose of the group; some only wanted to focus on ward-level issues, while others thought they had a platform to criticise New Labour more generally. Both parties suffered electorally.

These parties are best when they allow flexibility for their members - but there does have to be a unity of purpose, even if it is only a minimal one, so the members and the voters alike know what it is meant to achieve. However, when local parties work well, they truly can be a new way of doing politics.

Bloomberg

2008-03-03T16:20:00.003Z

So Michael Bloomberg has (again) officially ruled out running for the US presidency. Bloomberg, you will recall, is the multi-millionaire former Democrat, former Republican turned independent mayor of New York.

(I nearly wrote "directly elected mayor" then - having written that phrase so much in relation to Hartlepool, Middlesbrough et al lately. As if there could be any other kind in the US...)

Now, American parties are not like British parties. They are far less imposing organisations on their elected representatives. They're not unimportant, but individual party politicians have much more autonomy (politically and financially) from the party machine in the US than they do in the UK and the rest of Europe generally.

We might even go as far as to say that while the most important relationship for a British MP is between him/herself and the parliamentary Chief Whip, they key relationship for an American Senator is between him/herself and the corporate funders who pay for his/her election campaigns.

In that sense it doesn't matter so much whether an independent is elected to the US Congress, because members are fairly independent already. Individual independents may be even more tied to major corporate interests, so they would not necessarily be a good thing anyway.

Still it would capture the imagination for an independent to have a serious run at the presidency. In the past, independents have tended to be further to the left or to the right than the mainstream candidates, so they draw their votes primarily from the natural supporters of one candidate. Ross Perot took votes from George Bush Sr in 1992, while Ralph Nader took them from Al Gore in 2000.

A Bloomberg candidacy would be different in that he will be going for the centrist voter mainly. That's likely to be a crowded field this year, with McCain and Obama aiming for the centre - perhaps a major reason Bloomberg has not entered the ring.

We still have the possibility of Bloomberg being placed on either ticket as a vice-presidential candidate. Obama remains the most likely destination, but we can only wait and see.

Quiet and disquiet

2008-03-02T09:36:00.004Z

Hartlepool, the town so nice I visited it twice. It has been the setting for a very interesting juxtaposition of two different types of independent.

When Stuart Drummond was elected as H'Angus the Monkey to the position of mayor in 2002, it was a massive blow to Hartlepool's political class. In office, however, Drummond has pursued a non-confrontational style. Most of his executive is comprised of Labour councillors, and by all accounts they work very well together.

Drummond sees his role as fostering better communication between the council and the public, not necessarily to challenge the council. It seems to me that local government in Hartlepool has just been business as usual for the past 6 years, only explained to the voters in a more straightforward way.

This is not to criticise Drummond. Many of the things councils need to do are common sensical, even mundane. There is usually no need for tribal division among politicians.

Although there are other independents in Hartlepool who think a bit more division might be appropriate every so often, to force through necessarly changes. One of these - taxi form boss Ian Cameron - stood for mayor in 2002, pledging to cut council tax by 40%. He was actually very close to winning in 2002, and he may well have done so if Drummond hadn't launched his publicity stunt. You can bet there would have been no alliance with Labour if he had.

Another more forceful independent is Councillor Geoff Lilley, a self-styled left-wing maverick who left Labour. For him Drummond's election was an opportunity to shake up a stale political sytem in Hartlepool, but it is one that has not been taken advantage of.

So what are we supposed to expect from an independent? That they seek to unite political opponents under a neutral banner? Or that they launch a political assault on the vested interests under a flag of war?

Maybe its horses for courses, although in Hartlepool no-one's agreeing in what kind of terrain is being travelled.

Local government chronicle

2008-02-23T11:32:00.002Z

It would be helpful for readers of this particular posting if they had a subscription to the Local Government Chronicle, but not absolutely necessary. Assuming most of you aren't, I won't put the links in, it would be teasing.

The LGC published an article recently about independent councillors, noting their increasing numbers. Discussed one particular example, the Boston Bypass Independents, who took almost every seat on Boston District Council last May. I'm not going to be interviewing them for my book, unfortunately - maybe in Volume Two.

Anyway, I thought I'd stick my nose in and reveal a few insights picked up about this subject during my research. Here's my letter to the LGC, which they published (most of it anyway) this week:

"The major political parties would be well advised to undertake a serious analysis of why independents and local parties have been more successful in local government recently (‘Locating localism’, LGC, 12 February).

Part of the reason has to be public frustration with the overly strict control parties tend to exert over local decision-making. In many areas, for instance, ruling parties attempt to manage and limit scrutiny committee activities to a much greater extent than the national government would dare to do with parliamentary select committees.

When independents are successful, it would make a refreshing change for the parties to accept this as part and parcel of a vibrant democracy rather than a dangerous threat. Renewed support for the introduction of directly elected mayors would be one way for Labour to signal that it holds no grudges against the independents that previously claimed power in its heartland areas.

Independents themselves, however, can be equally assured that launching an explicit anti-party crusade is more likely to alienate the voters than gain their support. Very few will vote independent to be part of a new ideological struggle, and finding ways to work in partnership with the major parties should always be a priority."

The Tatton batton

2008-02-09T13:53:00.000Z

The River Stour, pictured here, runs through the centre of Kidderminster. It's fair to say, actually, that it trickles through Kidderminster. But downstream's a different story - the Stour flows into the mighty Severn, England's longest river. So, to deduce the meaning of this, some fairly minor occurrences in Kidderminster can have a much bigger national impact than you would first assume.

Not unlike........

Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern! (Health Concern for short.) When Martin Bell stepped down from his Tatton parliamenary seat in 2001, and went on to lose in Brentwood & Ongar, the mantle of 'leader of the independents' was passed on to Dr Richard Taylor. Taylor led a local campaign against the closure of Kidderminster Hospital, you may recall, and was elected to parliament for his trouble.

The campaign wasn't exactly successful locally, but it caused major shockwaves, and no doubt influenced the way the government approached hospital reconfiguration from that day forward. That is, they were very scared of doing it, but to their credit they haven't admitted defeat on pandered to the masses where they think changes need to be made.

Bell's Tatton victory was stunning, but in a different way. Bell waxes lyrical about Tatton (a place in Cheshire that doesn't actually exist) and his joy at representing its people (mainly ageing conservatives). But his story is essentially a national one. A national government minister was caught doing wrong, causing a national scandal. Bell was a national celebrity (as a BBC reporter), and took the national media with him as he ousted the naughty MP.

Taylor campaigned about a very local issue, and himself was a very local man. He seems to have personally saved the lifes of half the constituency if the people I interviewed there are to be believed.

If independents are going to be more and more successful, it will have to be based on the success of these local campaigns. Many high-profile politicians get themselves mired in scandal, but not enough of them are taken seriously enough for a hundred Martin Bells to keep winning elections.

West Wing comes true

2008-02-09T13:13:00.000Z

The Republican party chooses a relative moderate who angers the right of his party, but expects to pick up the votes of independent voters. He chooses a right-wing running mate to balance the ticket.

The Democratic party faces a choice between a frontrunner that fails to excite and young ethnic minority candidate, and takes the fight all the way to the party convention.

Reality or fiction?

There's a scary resemblance between the US primary race and the final seasons of the West Wing (which were thought to be rather far-fetched)...
Hillary Clinton = Bob Russell
Barack Obama = Matt Santos
John McCain = Arnold Vinick
Mike Huckabee = Ray Sullivan

Of course, Democrat Santos won the fictional '2006 election' on TV. It has been rumoured that the producers of the show had planned a Vinnick win, but when John Spencer (who played presidentil chief of staff Leo McGarry throughout the series) died during filming, they decided that Democrat fans might have had enough emotional heartbreak, so re-wrote the script to give Santos the win.

As the writers acknowledged on the show, the Vinnick-Santos contest should have been an easy win for the Republican. He had the greater ability to reach out to floating voters, and much more experience than his opponent. The invention of a freak nuclear accident at a plant Vinnick had lobbied for was the way the writers decided to give Santos a fighting chance.

In reality, too, the Republican will most likely be the strong favourite in a McCain-Obama contest.

Perhaps the only thing that could stop him is the detraction of his own party - after 8 years of President Bush the Republican right is accustomed to one of their own being in power. The British Tories had exactly the same situation under Margaret Thatcher. When the political ground shifts underneath them, it can be hard to adapt - witness the successive elections of Hague, Duncan-Smith and Howard as Tory Leader.

If they don't realise soon enough that McCain is the closest they'll get to a conservative champion for a while (read his views on "socialised healthcare" and you'll see just how close he is), the West Wing may begin to look even more like reality.

academic interest

2008-01-28T14:12:00.000Z

I'm a bit late in advertising this, but I'm sure independent-watchers will find it very useful. the Institute of Local Government at Birmingham University held a conference late last year on minor parties and independents, probably the first such in this country. Look here.

The papers discussed examples of independent and minor party success all over the world. I particularly found the discussion of the Crossbenchers in the House of Lords by Meg Russell and Maria Scaria very entertaining.

As well as that, there was an excellent piece of work from Russell Deacon, University of Wales Institute Cardiff, on Welsh minor parties. As you'll be aware I've spent a lot of time considering the People's Voice group in Blaenau Gwent and elsewhere. Plans are afoot to combine my work with Russell's, hopefully producing a fairly definitive account of PV in the Welsh political context. Watch this space.

Iowa caucus

2008-01-03T11:03:00.000Z

The Iowa caucus today is the event that Americ'a major parties have been frantically building up to for years, and tomorrow we will be a little closer to knowing who the Democratic and Republican nominees for President will be. My prediction - Clinton and McCain.

I really struggle to see what Barack Obama's pitch is. He bangs on obsessively about change, how he represents a new generation, but I see nothing new from him whatsover in policy terms. That's not to say he's wrong on any of the major issues, but if you actually wanted to hear a Democrat saying something different you'd look to John Edwards.

But of course, the Democrats and Republicans are not going to be the only participants in the presidential race. Typical of this blogger, I see how important independents may be to the outcome.

Ross Perot was the major alternative force in American politics for many years. The most notable achievement was winning 19% of the popular vote in the 1992 election, standing as an independent (he later led the Reform Party). At one point he led the opinion polls with support from 39% of voters. It is argued, convincingly, that his candidacy won the election for Bill Clinton, by drawing votes away from incumbent Vice-President George Bush Sr.

More recently, environmental campaigner Ralph Nader (former Democrat, sometime Green, sometime independent) made a big splash in 2000 when he was similarly thought to have helped George Bush Jr into office by taking votes away from the most environmentally aware major party candidate of all time, Al Gore. Of course, Gore won the popular vote anyway so it really shouldn't have mattered.

In the current contest, one independent to have made an impact so far is Joe Liberman. Until recently a Democrat (and Gore's running mate in 2000), Lieberman was de-selected by his local party and was re-elected as an independent to the US Senate in 2006. He has now endorsed John McCain, Republican, to win in 2008. McCain has long been noted for his cross-party appeal, and should he win the nomination this kind of support will serve him well against the polarising force of Hillary Clinton.

The other big story could be Michael Bloomberg. The current Mayor of New York is a former Democrat and Republican who became an independent. It has long been rumoured that Bloomberg would stand for President, and he certainly has the money to do so, although has recently ruled himself out. There is also a quite credible suggestion that he could be picked as a Vice-Presidential candidate by the successful nominees of either party. It would not be possible for either Clinton or Rudolph Guiliani to do so, because the President and Vice-President cannot come from the same state, and both are registered in New York.

Pier-ing into the future

2007-12-10T15:11:00.000Z

Very few people talking about Wigan in political terms are able to refrain from beginning their observations with a reference to George Orwell's eye-opening journey to the 'pier' of this inland town. Thankfully you won't get that from me.

Why? Because Orwell's mission was to find out about politics 1930s style - with the great northern proletariat engaged in the class struggle which eventually bestowed two-party politics (Labour and Tories) on Britain for several generations.

My trip to Wigan was intended to observe the changes that will define a new era of politics. One where people aren't motivated to vote primarily to reform the national/global economic system, but simply to change their own communities. The Community Action Party (and assorted independents) on Wigan council are arguably the beneficiaries of this.

(I won't go into an analysis of whether you need to change global capitalism in order to stop people dropping litter on the street, because its far beyond my remit. What I'm interested in is why people vote the way they do, and what their representatives choose to do with political office.)

And on that note, there's no better illustration of the new politics than this photograph. Both of the prominent features in the frame are important. First, the Community Action Party campaign about a local planning decision. And secondly, the mini Christmas trees, the appearnace of which was the result of another successful local CAP campaign.

Finally, I know anyone in Wigan reading this will immediately be up in arms about such a rose-tinted description of CAP/independents in the town - trust me, I am aware a more detailed level of analysis is required, and will most definitely be provided.

Nine days in November

2007-11-28T10:19:00.000Z

Some reckless scheduling has landed me in the middle of a hectic fieldwork period. Three research trips in little over a week have tested my capacity to endure our national rail service, but so far the experience is proving increasingly fruitful.

Researching non-aligned politicians was always bound to have me encountering a wide range of people, of all types and persuasions. And this month I will meet three distinct types of politician, putting my case studies into the sharpest possible relief.

First up was one the ranks of independent mayors. Frank Branston, directly elected Mayor of Bedford. Like Mike Wolfe in Stoke-on-Trent, Branston was a prominent local figure who led the campaign to introduce a mayoral system to Bedford against opposition from the local political parties.

Next was the parliamentarian. Martin Bell is the former MP for Tatton, and since 2001 the sometime leader of the independents' cause.

Finally, this week I will travel to Wigan, where the local Community Action Party has made headlines by challenging Labour for control of the local council, but where there is also a fairly large contingent of independent councillors.

The appearance of non-aligned politicians in various forms and at a number of different levels is what drove me to begin this research. I'd love to simplify things, saying that in the future we're likely to see more of a certain type in a certain setting - but I'm not convinced yet that any such predictions could be wholly accurate.

Valleys

2007-10-27T16:43:00.000+01:00

I've spent a long time now thinking about political life in the Welsh valleys. And with good reason, too. There is no other place I have encountered so far that feels so much in flux in terms of whether we are going to see a replacement of the established parties.

Of course you will all know that Blaenau Gwent, famously described as the socialist fortress, was lost by Labour to one of its own in 2005. Peter Law opposed the party's imposition of an all-women shortlist after Llew Smith MP stood down. Law was already a member of the Welsh Assembly, and he went on to win the Westminster seat as an independent.

After Law's tragic death, his fight was continued by his widow Trish Law in Cardiff and by his former agent Dai Davies in London. Both won their by-elections, extending Labour's nightmare.

They have now set up an organisation called People's Voice - which is registered as a political party but at the present time still operates quite differently.

It is not just this one parliamentary constituency that interests me, however. There have been interesting developments in nearby areas, too, with or without the intervention of People's Voice activists.

A similar party was set up by Ron Davies and John Marek, in the guise Forward Wales, while the number of independents in this region is also a reason to look at it closely.

North east again

2007-10-23T22:30:00.000+01:00

I have spent more time in Hartlepool's Middleton Grange shopping centre than I care to think about over 2 visits to the town. The potato and corned beef pasty from Greggs was probably worth it though.

I have now met Stuart Drummond, independent mayor of Hartlepool, among others. Readers will remember Drummond as the mascot (named H'Angus) of the local football team who campaigned in a monkey suit. That's a story in itself - the townsfolk are known as 'monkey hangers' because they once hanged a monkey they found on the beach during the Napoleonic wars because they thought it was a French spy.

Drummond's candidacy was originally intended as a publicity stunt for the football club (who paid his deposit). He had wanted to stand against former local MP Peter Mandelson in 2001 in the general election, but Mandelson's position as titular President of the club put an end to that idea.

People forget that Drummond ditched the monkey suit during the original campaign, and did begin to make some serious suggestions at hustings events. Several years on, and he does speak coherently about why he was elected, and why his style of politics is welcomed by the public.

I also took that chance for a detour to Middlesbrough while in the North East, where another controversial independent mayor, Ray Mallon, was elected.

Those I have spoken to in both towns have commented on the contrast between the two mayors. They do seem to differ much in their approach to politics.

Interestingly, nearby Darlington recently held a referendum on the introduction of an elected mayor, which would have made for an interesting geographical triumvirate. Alas, they said no.

One London

2007-10-09T13:52:00.000+01:00

From the tiny, isolated (but not so tiny or so isolated) Isle of Portland, to its polar opposite - recently I met the One London group on the London Assembly.

One London is another example of a political party that exists in just one locality (although a rather big one in this case). It has two representatives on the Assembly. To be more accurate, it is the two Assembly members who were elected for UKIP in 2005, but have since left that party to set up their own group.

Whatever the details of the disagreement with UKIP, it does make sense - Damian Hockney and Peter-Hulme Cross remain strongly Euro-sceptic, but admit there wasn't much opportunity to pursue that agenda in the Assembly.

Their politics are those we traditionally associate with the right - they are strongly pro-free market, and also campaign against the 'London subsidy' by which the wealth of Britain's richest city is distributed to the rest of the country.

Another interesting point- One London does not agree with the existence of the London Assembly. They are happy to have a Mayor, but think the Assembly is to weak to have any real impact on London governance. They say that if we are going to have an Assembly, it should have the power to do a meaningful job.

Putting the left/right divide aside for a moment, Hulme-Cross and Hockney are honest, principled politicians. There is a great deal to recommend their approach to their work as Assembly members - many would argue that the imposition of party whips really does detract from the scrutiny function of the Assembly.

The future is uncertain for One London. First, they have to keep hold of their Assembly seats, before making any plans for branching out into local councils, Parliament, and so on. Will Londoners be willing to endorse a distinctly 'local' choice in the same way the islanders of Portland have?

Organised independents

2007-10-05T16:02:00.001+01:00

The Local Government Association is the body representing the country's 400+ local authorities. Naturally, council representatives organise themsleves into party groups, with one for Labour, Tories and Lib Dems.

There's also an 'LGA Independent group'. It isn't esclusively for independents - representatives from minor parties can also join.

I was at the annual conference of the Independent Group recently. This was held during party conference season, and the Chair of the group was explicit in making this connection.

It's fair to say many would question the logic of 'independent' councillors joining up in this way in a national organisation. Doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose? Even the speakers were a little confused: one of them wondered allowed whether this was a "political group" or a "non-political group" (before settling on the former).

On the other hand, the LGA and bodies like it are there to support elected councillors, and the fact is that many support services are delivered through political parties. The presentations at the conference were from the likes of the Improvement and Development Agency (who promote good practice in local government): why should independent councillors reject useful support offered to the parties?

They shouldn't, but the question again raises issues about how much are democracy assumes the existence of a party system, even down to the local authority level. The distribution of committee memberships within councils is another one of these - that in particular is something I've been thinking about again and again during this research.

Isle of Portland

2007-10-01T16:13:00.000+01:00

Sometimes fate just points you in the right direction, telling you exactly where you need to go. And sometimes it's your name written on a piece of cardboard with a helpful arrow.

I was thankful for it during my weekend visit to the Isle of Portland, off the Dorset coast. A three mile trek, wearing a suit in blazing heat, up to the top of the hill that the island consists of, finally got me to my final destination of the trip, to meet another of the local councillors.

Although not quite of Isle of Man proportions, Portland's political life is dominated by independents (five out of seven of the island's borough councillors, with one Labour and one Tory).

It's an intriguing place, one where I was repeatedly told national party politics just does not apply. I don't believe this for a second, so I'm all the more interested in the dogged persistence of independents here - almost as if the island has chosen to reject the parties simply because its geographical setting gives it an excuse to do so.

Hartlepool so far

2007-09-26T23:05:00.000+01:00

Avid followers may have been expecting a report from Hartlepool today. No can do. But here's a picture of the town's very first mayor, while you wait.

Consider your appetite whetted.

Bob Wareing

2007-09-18T15:20:00.000+01:00

Quick note about Bob Wareing MP, the "veteran left-winger", as BBC News described him. He's been deselected by his local Constituency Labour Party in Liverpool as their candidate for the next general election.

Stephen Twigg, the ex-minister who lost his seat in 2005, has been chosen in his place.

Even for politicians quite a long way out of step with mainstream party opinion, deselection is very rare. I've even noticed that moderate party members are quite happy to be represented by radical MPs, accepting that the parliamentary party should reflect a spectrum of views rather than just the leadership perspective (the leadership rarely agrees).

When deselection has happened recently (I'm thinking John Marek in Wrexham), Labour has come to regret the move. Marek stood as an independnet against Labour and kept hold of his Welsh Assembly seat. We all know, too, of former Democrat Joe Lieberman in the US (although, strangely, he was ousted for not being left-wing enough).

Wareing has now said he'll stand as an independent against Twigg. I'm intrigued to see what will happen. Wareing has been the MP for Liverpool West Derby for a long time, and the electorate surely won't like the idea that the party, not the voters, have usurped the power to decide his fate. And Twigg, after his 2005 experience, must be very, very nervous about his prospects.

Anti-parties? (Stoke-on-Trent)

2007-09-14T13:19:00.000+01:00

Compiling my thoughts into a coherent whole has been a challenge following my field trip to Stoke-on-Trent, a city as diverse politically as it is geographically.

It really is impossible to think about non-aligned politicians in terms of their 'key characteristics'. You can define what makes a non-aligned politician, as I have done, but beyond this minimum it is more difficult to fit them in a box.

For instance, are these politicians opposed to the party system? Do they explicitly campaign against it?

In Stoke, this issue provides a key dividing line between independents. While the former mayor Mike Wolfe has been very forthright in his criticism of the party system, which he does not believe has a useful place in local government. In response to criticism of the directly elected mayoral system he introduced, he maintains that current problems are due mainly to the fact that the mayor is a party member rather than an independent. (Wolfe's own independent revolution was cut short after two and a half years in power.)

Stoke also has a fair number of independent councillors, but for the most part you won't hear the same kind of rhetoric about the party sytem. Naturally they promote the virtues of councillors being independents ("It's not the place of the Labour Party to have a policy on tow paths," on councillor told me). But they are also adamant that when an independent stands for election, they want and expect to get the public's support based on their performance in office, not to strike a blow against the party system.

Blaina by-election

2007-08-18T11:04:00.000+01:00

Quick note about Blaenau Gwent. There was a by-election in the Blaina seat, for both the community and county councils this week (16 August).

Labour won the community seat, but lost the county seat by 3 votes. The winning candidate was Yvonne Lewis, an independent.

I understand Ms Lewis is a true independent, not linked to People's Voice (the 'party' created by Peter Law and now led by Dai Davies MP) or the Blaenau Gwent Independent Group. One was definitely a BGIG candidate, Carole Hillman, the wife of that group's leader: she stood as an 'Official Independent'.

The real area of interest in Blaenau Gwent is this question of who is really an independent, who is semi-independent and who is a little less semi-indepedent. I don't think anyone really knows at times.

Stoke-on-Trent

2007-08-15T11:45:00.000+01:00

The last man from Stoke to hit the headlines by 'going solo' was Robbie Williams. Jump forward a few years, substitute 'Gary Barlow' for 'the Labour Party', and here we have Mike Wolfe, the former directly-elected independent mayor of Stoke-on-Trent.

I visted the city yesterday, meeting Mr Wolfe and a number of other key players in the area. Of course, Stoke-on-Trent isn't really one place. It's actually six towns, ruled by one city council. One of those towns is called Stoke, and perhaps because it is home to the region's major football team, Stoke City (sorry Port Vale, but they had Gordon Banks and Stanley Matthews), this one town has lent its name to the city as a whole.

All the more remarkable, then, that Mike Wolfe managed to unite the local population in support of introducing a directly-elected mayor. Wolfe was the Labour Party member who led the campaign for the mayoral system. Having won the referendum, he decided he would stand for mayor himself as an independent, and won.

His victory, however, was not the first breakthrough for independents in Stoke. In 1997, all 60 seats on the council were held by Labour. In 1998 the first of these fell to independent candidates, and a new City Independents group was formed on the council. Within a few years the independents had gained control of the council, as the leading partner in coalition with the Tories.

More upheaval has ensued. Wolfe was elected, and then failed in his bid for re-election (to Labour) amid a hail of criticism of the mayoral system. The City Independents Group has lost members, although remains the largest group after Labour. A strange new 'Conservative and Independent Alliance' has been formed - a move which prompted several Tories to rebel and set up the Community Independent Group, before abandoning that idea and joining with the City Independents. Several Labour councillors have rebelled and formed a new group, the Potteries Alliance. The BNP have also gained strength, but have themselves suffered defections. Now the Labour Mayor Mark Meredith has announced a new three-party executive of Labour, Tory and Lib Dem councillors.

From the outside it may seem a confusing situation, but Stoke-on-Trent is also very revealing about how non-aligned politicians (and their aligned opponents) operate, and what their future political prospects may be. Labour may have regained their hold on the council, but are far more precariously placed than they have been previously. Further, the involvement of all three major parties in the executive - however laudable this example of tripartisanship may be - will surely serve to channel any opposition straight into the arms of the City Independents. The BNP will also be looking to capitalise and it will be intriguing to which option voters choose if they do want to voice their disapproval of council policy at the next election.

London mayoral race

2007-08-01T15:28:00.000+01:00

On the day Liberal Democrat Lembit Opik first signalled he is considering entering the race to be London Mayor, it's a good time to take stock of just how many high-profile but non-traditional candidates are rumoured to be standing for the post.

London's City Hall, of course, is the home of the man who was probably Britain's most famous independent politician, Ken Livingstone. Ken has rejoined Labour but there can be no doubt whatsoever that Ken makes up his own mind about things and is every bit as 'independent' today as he was in 1999.

Boris Johnson, too, is standing in May's election for the Conservatives, assuming he is selected as their candidate. Boris, too, has historical difficulties sticking to the party line (although this may be more to do with the fact that he hasn't bothered to learn what it is rather than any rebellious instinct). The Conservatives' selection process also promises more scope for the independent-minded politicians, as it is being conducted through a US-style primary. However, the apparently £1-a-minute phone charges to register as an elector is bound to put off anyone thinking of casting their vote.

Greg Dyke has also long been linked to the post. There was a suggestion of him being a joint Lib Dem-Tory candidate, although Dyke himself maintained he would be a purely independent candidate. The hype died down a little a few months ago, although there are still rumours that Dyke will rejoin the race - and with Boris and Lembit involved now he will surely be a straightforward independent.

Another name in the frame is the Big Issue founder John Bird. This is an interesting one - Bird doesn't have the political baggage (and personal grievances?) that Dyke carries with him. His candidature is more or less a plea for a new approach to solving some of London's problems, which he doesn't trust the parties to deliver.

Radio DJ Nick Ferrari is a declared independent candidate, having spurned the opportunity to stand for the Tories. Finally, we have music mogul Harvey Goldsmith, who is also weighing up his options.

No doubt Ken's status as a strong favourite, added to the fact that much media attention will be focused on the gaffe-prone Boris Johnson during the race, will cause a couple of the above to drop out of the contest. But the fact that so many people have been linked to the post is telling - no doubt at all, there is something about the position of directly elected mayor that presents a challenge to traditional party politics.

Bideford

2007-07-27T12:01:00.000+01:00

I can honestly say that when embarking on this project, I never envisioned using that among the tens of thousands of words I'll be writing on the subject of independent politicians, one of them would be 'stripogram'. Yet here we are, and so soon.

In Bideford, Devon, three Liberal Democrat councillors (Cllrs Caroline Church, Tony Inch and Simon Inch) have resigned the Lib Dem whip and declared themselves independents. Why? It is in protest against one of their female Lib Dem colleagues (Cllr Myrna Bushell) on the council who works (yes, you guessed it) as a stripogram.

Cllr Bushell appeared on an entertainment agency website, under a pseudonym, advertising her services, and this came to the attention of the gang of three before a candidate selection meeting through an anonymous tip-off. They asked the party's executive to stop her from standing, but this was refused. And so they left.

As it happens, Cllr Bushell has also announced she'll be standing as an independent too. The BBC has the full story here.

It's difficult to know what to make of it. If I were a politician and had made the quite significant decision to eschew party politics and stand as an independent, I would want to tell people that I had higher motives than "another party member is a stripper".

Of course, the gang of three do argue that their resignation is partly because of the actions of the party executive rather than just moral indignation... but what the executive have done is simply to refuse to censor one of the group's councillors. Surely this is exactly the kind of thing that independents would like to see the parties doing: reducing the control of the leadership over the individual.

A wider point to make note of is that here we have four councillors who clearly feel they can win seats as independents without a party label attached to them. You never see traffic going in the other direction - only Ken Livingstone has done it recently to my knowledge - despite the parties all making efforts to recruit popular independents under their respective banners.

Festival

2007-07-20T21:52:00.001+01:00

I have been invited to speak at the Sheffield Festival of Politics later this year about my research on the non-aligneds. This is an annual event hosted by the University and as far as I can tell so far, I'll be up against some senior local figures from the major parties in a debate about how good parties are for our democracy.

It's not a comfortable position for someone conducting research from a neutral perspective. It would be more than a little hypocritical of me to start denigrating the parties now, and probably not very fair either. I'm not campaigning to bring down the parties, I'm simply asking whether they might be "brought down", or just electorally defeated on a more regular basis, by others.

Still, I'm clearly going to be asked to play the role of devil's advocate at the Festival while the politicians speak about how vital parties are for our democracy (especially their own), and how dangerous this talk of independents is.

One of the usual charges from all sides is that non-aligned politicians are either racists, lunatics, or both. This is something I should be in a position to put down quite easily - assuming my research backs this up, and so far it does. Without being a cheerleader for any particular cause, I'll speak about the evidence I've seen and what I make of it.

I'll provide further details about the Festival when they are available, so anyone in the South Yorkshire area and beyond come along and take part in the debates.

Welcome

2007-07-18T22:31:00.000+01:00

Welcome to this new blog, which accompanies the research for my upcoming book, 'Independent: The Rise of the Non-Aligned Politician'.

The book is, or will be an investigation into the increasing numbers and profile of both independent politicians and of 'local' political parties (e.g. Wigan Community Action Party) across the UK. These comprise the ranks of the non-aligned politicians.

I do not mean to suggest that this is an entirely new phenomenon: independents have certainly been a feature of Britain's electoral landscape for a very long time. My contention is that with recent trends in mind we could well be reaching a threshold moment where non-aligned politicians become every bit as normal as those from traditional political parties. And I want to know what the implications of this are.

Future posts will explore the theoretical and empirical issues much further. For now, let me just say, by way of giving you an overview of my research project, that over the coming months I will be visiting a number of our towns and cities where the non-aligned have made the biggest impression, and if you're interested to find out about what is happening you should watch this space.