The people want something different
All of a sudden, the words ‘thank you’ are just not big enough.
‘Thank you’ is what you politely respond when somebody holds a door open for you. ‘Thank you’ is what you say when the till girl in Tesco hands over your change.
The phrase just feels too small to encompass the gratitude and gratefulness I owe to the thousands of people who voted for me in last Thursday’s local elections.
All I can add is that the two words have probably never meant more to me. So . . . thank you.
I am humbled and inspired by your support. My stance on this page has always been for open, honest, common sense loca politics.
At the grass roots of government, we need people who will do their best for the community around them – and not be swayed by events in Holyrood or Westminster. Neither Boris Johnson’s illegal Bollinger, Kier Starmer’s contentious curry nor Nicola Sturgeon’s regurgitated referendum were going to help South Ayrshire dig itself out a hole.
When I took that stance to the polling stations last week – not everyone agreed.
What mattered most though was that enough of you agreed. Enough to send me into the council chamber and fight on your behalf.
There are people in that chamber who regularly dismiss this page as “continuous carping” or “meaningless moaning”.
I’m not one for “ya-boo” politicking. But I’ll take my seat knowing I got more first preference votes that the leader of South Ayrshire’s Labour Group and the leader of South Ayrshire’s Scottish National Party . . . put together!
The mention of Messrs McGinley and Henderson brings me nicely to... what happens now?
The jungle drums tell me they’ve had a wee fall out already – and Mr McGinley’s toys are all over the pavement! Holy Corbyns!
It’s all leaving Councillor Henderson poised to form a minority SNP administration.
Yes, the people have had their say. But will their voices matter as the parties play their own Game of Thrones? Martin Dowey’s Conservative Party has the most votes and the majority of seats – but not overall control.
In an ideal world, he’d negotiate with the other elected members and jointly decide the best men and women to tackle the various council roles – irrespective of the parties they represent. Isn’t that how its meant to work anyway? But Castle Grayskull is no ideal world.
The previous Nat/Lab coalition – and don’t give me this “working arrangement” claptrap – has already brought multi-million pound gambling chips to the table. The demolition of riverside High Flats and the new Alloway Street Leisure Complex. Cllr Dowey has come out of the election without the aces he needs to challenge their hand.
But the Nats and Labour both know the Leisure Complex is seriously flawed. The majority of the Ayr public don’t want it. The “consultation” was a sham.
As building costs spiral out of control, it’s £45 million price tag will spiral out of control with it.
Councils across the country are pulling the plug on new swimming facilities – wary of the huge energy bills required to maintain them.
And it will put every penny South Ayrshire Council has into one very expensive, high risk basket.
If anyone wants to get this bad apple out the barrel – with no real loss of face – the best way is to cancel it, purely on financial grounds alone.
Given a free vote on this, I doubt it would get across the line of the new 2022 SAC anyway. Maybe, once I get my feet under the table, I can explain to a few others what a “free vote” actually is! In my election leaflet, I used the words “common sense” a dozen times. If ever a council needed a bucketful of it – it’s right now.
The one thing I think every councillor, of every hue, would agree on is that SAC is standing at a crossroads it won’t see again for another five years.
In 2012, we chose the direction of a Tory-led council, propped up by Labour. This page railed against the treatment of the Nats – left in the wilderness despite a decent chunk of support at the polls.
In 2017, we went in another direction – an SNP- led council propped up by Labour. This time it was the Tories – even with a majority of seats! – to spend their five years in the Grayskull Gulag. What direction we take in 2022 is down to Messrs Dowey, McGinley and Henderson.
Scrape off the party badges and you’ll find they are all decent men – with South Ayrshire’s best interests at heart. It’s just that they can’t agree what those best interests are.
Knocking down 224 flats? In a housing shortage? A If they can put their party colours down, put outdated political dogma behind them – and put South Ayrshire’s best interests first – it will be a council I will support, and hopefully enjoy supporting. I’m putting my success at the polls down to the fact I was offering something different. And people wanted something different. I’ll spell that out again.
THE PEOPLE WANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
And remember . . . Ne’er forget the people.