‘Intimidation’ among reasons some councillors are quitting
A SIGNIFICANT number of Bridgend councillors have decided to stand down ahead of this year’s local government elections.
When Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) published its list of candidates standing for election on May 5, it was revealed that a total of 23 councillors will not be stepping up to defend their seat.
Here, some of them reveal why they stood down and how they view their time as councillors.
As with many young people sitting at local government level, Sorell Dendy, 27, had to think hard about whether committing to life as a councillor was worth the balancing act that it can sometimes be.
“Although you might have a passion for it, you need to put food on the table at the end of the day,” said former Independent Alliance councillor Sorell, who decided not to stand for reelection.
“If you want to be able to commit to all the committees and meetings, you can’t really have a job as well because you can’t work out hours with people. Although a lot of people complain that councillors get paid a lot of money, in reality it is not enough for you to be able to live off. The majority of people who are councillors either have their own businesses, or are retired and have income through that.”
Sorell added that the sometimes toxic nature of social media and intimidation also played a part in making her think twice about attempting to reprise her role.
She said: “I think it is an issue. In the past five years I have been in term I think the use of social media for relaying information to the public as a councillor has grown significantly. The amount of online comments that you get has increased.
“You might dedicate a page for your council work, but at the end of the day you have probably got a lot of people in your community adding you through your personal page, which means you don’t really have that break. You do want to be a point of contact, but that does come with its own risks and I think that is something I wasn’t prepared to continue doing, as well as the [other reasons].
“I have had ‘wanted dead or alive’ posters sent to me, letters through the door, emails, comments on social media, private messages on social media. Nobody has it easy in the world of politics. You have got to expect to have some people saying things about you, but because of social media the relentlessness of that now can have a detrimental impact on some people. There are also a lot of councillors who have had no problems at all.”
Other independent councillors, including Carolyn Webster, Julia Williams, Rod Shaw, Roz Stirman, Mike Clarke, Elaine Venables and Ken Watts are also standing down.
Despite the hardships, the former councillor for Blaengarw, who will be running for a place on the Garw Valley Community Council and going into further education, said she would still recommend the role to those who are passionate.
She said: “The support that you can have from other members and the support you can have from democratic services, etc, is extremely good. You are not on your own, even if you feel like you are at times, and if you have a passion for it then go for it. ”
Another independent councillor who is stepping down this year is Llynfi Independent Keith Edwards.
Keith, who was first elected as a Labour councillor at BCBC in 2008 before becoming a Llynfi Independent, said the good times are “few and far between” for him.
Following a dispute over a proposed council merger with the Vale of Glamorgan, Keith and a number of other Labour councillors were suspended from the party.
Members in this group, including Councillor Ross Penhale-Thomas, formed the Llynfi Independents.
Reflecting on his time as a councillor, Keith said: “The last 14 years [have been] extremely disappointing.”
The former councillor said he was disappointed about the way some issues had been handled, like the problems with damp and mould that people in Caerau faced after poor insulation work was carried out.
Ten years after the insulation was fitted, the council released an internal audit report that highlighted a number of failures including that “no due diligence checks were evidenced” in contracting Green Renewable Wales (GRW) Ltd to carry out the work on 25 properties.
The report also highlighted that public money may have been paid to a firm that didn’t exist – a company subcontracted by GRW, which was owned by former BCBC councillor Phil White. Mr White died in October last year.
South Wales Police said that they will not be conducting an investigation following the report.
The former councillor, who is stepping down due to personal reasons, said one highlight of his time on the council was helping to secure the future of Maesteg’s swimming-pool.
He said: “We [formed] a partnership with Maesteg Town Council to fund some of the necessary repair work that was done there and that partnership agreement, which I am quite proud of negotiating through, definitely enabled the swimming-pool to stay in situ. I was quite pleased with that and I see that as a positive.”
Four Conservative members – Tom Giffard, Sadie Vidal, Lyn Walters and Altaf Hussain – are also stepping down this year.
Altaf Hussain, who was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon until 2009 before turning his attention to politics, was elected as a county borough councillor for Pen Y Fai in 2017.
“It has been a great privilege to represent the people of Pen Y Fai in the council,” said Altaf. “The council has been a great place and I had a very good time. I have enjoyed it. I did a lot for Pen Y Fai, for which I am very grateful to the council.”
Altaf said he will be devoting his time to his Welsh Government role as a Regional MS for South Wales West.
He added: “I am a Senedd Member now, so that is a huge [responsibility] and is itself a full-time job. At this age you want to slow down a bit [too].”
Labour is the party seeing the most councillors standing down from their roles at BCBC, with nine former members deciding not to throw their hat in the ring again. These include Nicole Burnett, Pam Davies, Gareth Howells, David Lewis, Janice Lewis, John McCarthy, Bridie Sedgbeer, Stephen Smith and Richard Young.
Gareth Howells, who represented Caerau, said: “I am 64 and I think it is time now for somebody younger to take over. I just wanted to thank everyone for their support over the years.”
When asked what the council is doing to support councillors and candidates who face intimidation, a BCBC spokesman said: “Councillors are provided with a wide range of support to help them deal with potential abuse and intimidation.
“All members have received specific guidance from the Local Government Association.
“They have access to a wide range of resources produced by the likes of the Local Government Association, Home Office, Community Safety Partnership, Prevent Programme and more.
“Most recently, the council organised a series of personal safety training events, but as these were poorly attended, we are seeking to repeat the sessions later in the year.”