On Saturday I ran a workshop with Labour Councillors, candidates and activists with the aim of finding pledges we could use in Bristol for the elections in June. To try and get some radical thinking I told the assembled groups to think up pledges we could use, but not to be restrained by any barriers. They then had to present their pledges as a headline in the Sun. The very first group called to give their headlines consisted of one of our local MPs, a constituency chair – who I know is a very proud grandmother – and two other members who shall we say are on the wrong end of middle age. Of course you now know what their headline pledge was because it is the title of this blog. I did ask for radical.
Now I ask myself a question; is longer always better?
Earlier this evening I attended the very first cabinet meeting of the new Liberal Democrat administration in Bristol. The meeting the Labour administration had set up had 6 items on it. This one had 3. The meeting (excluding public questions) lasted 14 minutes. This time was evenly split between 1 executive introducing the item and the leader of the council and 1 other exec member asking officers questions about the report. I can only assume that the leader had not had time to read the papers before the meeting or maybe she thought she was still in scrutiny. The entire contribution of four of the new executive members was to say ‘agreed’ three times. All of this webcast live for the adoring Bristol public. This from an administration that keeps stating that ‘openness is the key’.
When I was on the Labour cabinet each item had at least three exec members who would give their views on the decisions to be taken. So at the very least the people of Bristol had some idea why we had reached a decision before we made it. I can’t help thinking that letting people know how and why you have come to a decision is at least as important as making the decision itself. So I happen to think that in this case longer is better and a more open form of governance.
Back to our pledges for June.
A responsible party has to ensure that it’s pledges are plausible and have a good chance of delivery. We have discussed our sex pledge and are working towards a form of words that makes this more plausible and deliverable. The current draft working pledge we have is: ‘Better longer sex can lead to Labour’. You will have to wait a few weeks to see if it makes the final list.
P.S. I will be looking very closely at the number of hits to this blog to test a key hypothesis about the internet.
March 13, 2009 at 10:20 am
Please note Terry has 5 children
March 15, 2009 at 9:09 pm
The same happens in another LibDem village, Sheffield.
The results of the Cabinet debate are published up to a week before the meetings, and even the affected external groups announce the forthcoming result.
The LibDems do not deny this, but blame the external organisations for premature publishing, whilst forgetting that what they were publishing came from the LibDem publicity office !
Cabinet meetings are no more than a sham, an insult to democracy, and patronisation of the citizens who are held in sheer and utter contempt.
Funny you should say Bristol, ‘cos we have a direct politcal, personnel and personal link.
If you want details, please get in touch.
April 6, 2009 at 2:08 pm
I imagine your hypothesis is that by putting the word ‘Sex’ in the title, more people will read the blog. In this case, though, how many of the readers followed the link posted on a national newspaper site by a Conservative blogger? Food for thought!