Right now, the last thing Buckinghamshire Council needs is petty party squabbling

As lockdown slowly eases, it might be tempting to think that the UK and our local economy will spring back to where it was before Covid19 changed the world. Sadly, I don't think that will be the case: not only has the disease taken and damaged people's lives (in so many ways) but the pandemic has also damaged people's livelihoods hugely. It will take a long, long time for our families and communities to recover from all this. 

Local government has a massive role to play in helping to regenerate local economies. We need fresh and imaginative thinking within councils in order to develop action plans that will tackle this challenge robustly and effectively. What we don't need is petty squabbling between the political factions or activities designed to launch skirmishes against the other parties.

We need our councillors to be focused on one thing alone: what can we do now to create Buckingham and county wide communities that are healthy, wealthy and wise, in these unprecedented times? This means we need councillors who are:

• pragmatic (not dogmatic)
• collaborative (not tribal)
• open (not closed) to new ideas
• loyal to communities (not loyal to party flags or whips)
• prepared to do new things (not the same old, same old...)
• unchained and free from diktats (not subordinate to party machines or greasy poles)  
• willing to experiment & innovate (not stuck in the past)

If the new Buckinghamshire Council looks much like the last, it will not be as effective at helping local communities 'build back better'. Large majorities stifle fresh thinking and close down debate. All political parties are based on conformance and 'sticking together'. 

And so... we need more independent councillors: free to challenge, to create, to innovate, to nudge, to scrutinise, and indeed to upset the old ineffective ways. 

Ignaz Semmelweis was a young doctor in Austria in the 1840s. After careful observation and experimentation, he discovered that if doctors washed their hands before helping a woman give birth, it dramatically cut the number of deaths of both babies and their mothers. 

In the spring of 1850, Semmelweis took the stage at the prestigious Vienna Medical Society and extolled the virtues of hand washing to a crowd of doctors. His theory flew in the face of accepted medical wisdom of the time and was rejected by the medical community, who faulted both his science and his logic. Historians believe they also rejected his theory because it blamed them for their patients’ deaths. Despite reversing the mortality rates in the maternity wards, the Vienna Hospital abandoned mandatory handwashing.

 Semmelweis was drummed out of Vienna and a few years later his health began to deteriorate. 

In 1867, two years after Semmelweis’ death, Scottish surgeon Joseph Lister also propelled the idea of sanitizing hands and surgical instruments to halt infectious diseases. His ideas had their critics, too, but in the 1870s physicians began regularly scrubbing up before surgery.

I mention this story as I think illustrates something very profound. Not only is Semmelweis credited with starting 'Evidence Based Medicine' but his story also shows the vital importance of having people who can stand back from the 'accepted wisdom' of the time and challenge it: carefully, compassionately and coherently.

We need local councillors who can do this. We need independent thinkers... We need independent councillors..