After my thrills at Brands Hatch in the morning, I went to Maidstone House and then attend the first induction at the Town Hall.
There were several of us, of all political creeds, all newbies, plus some incumbents to meet, greet and induct us. Many officer were present, so we met the Chief Exec, Chief Planning Officer etc. They explained their jobs, roles etc and legal foundations and we asked questions. Incumbent members handed out some advice, non of which was political, it was just plain good sense!
Having been on a Parish Council for years I have to say that I pretty well already knew the "players" and the processes. Others present clearly did not!
So after 3 hours I had my induction, I then had to get a pass to get into the building and a car pass to park the car and follow a few simple mundane admin processes in the next few days and return with forms duly filled in. I had a vague idea about some of the people I would need to be involved with, at an officer level, if I was on certain committees, but I had no idea what I was actually going to be involved with in terms of agendas and likely committees and I did not know who my own leader would be, nor how the Council would be led. There was no Conservative Leader and no Council Leader. There was no cabinet or people assigned to committees. This would be the case until June 7th at the Council meeting where we would confirm the Mayor and vote for a leader. As a Conservative there would be various meetings and communications to resolve our own leadership in this time, as I am sure there were meetings of the other groups, to work out many "what ifs" and who would do what. It really depended on a vote for Council leadership at the Council meeting, once we resolved who the Conservative leader would be.
A few emails and telephone calls came my way on the subject of who might lead the Tories. They were not just from fellow Maidstone Council members. Many people were keen to influence me. I made it clear from my point of view: whoever does the job MUST have rural sympathies and a proven record of understanding rural communities. My vote may not count in amongst many, so I admit I lobbied others in favour of certain candidates that emerged. My other fellow Headcorn ward member shared my convictions. We both wanted our Local Plan issues taken seriously and FAIR consideration given to our lovely ward. We had rural issues we wanted taken seriously.
So the next 48 hours was made up of lots of uncertainty and working up to a Conservatives meeting on Friday 30th. It was quite busy!
There were several of us, of all political creeds, all newbies, plus some incumbents to meet, greet and induct us. Many officer were present, so we met the Chief Exec, Chief Planning Officer etc. They explained their jobs, roles etc and legal foundations and we asked questions. Incumbent members handed out some advice, non of which was political, it was just plain good sense!
Having been on a Parish Council for years I have to say that I pretty well already knew the "players" and the processes. Others present clearly did not!
So after 3 hours I had my induction, I then had to get a pass to get into the building and a car pass to park the car and follow a few simple mundane admin processes in the next few days and return with forms duly filled in. I had a vague idea about some of the people I would need to be involved with, at an officer level, if I was on certain committees, but I had no idea what I was actually going to be involved with in terms of agendas and likely committees and I did not know who my own leader would be, nor how the Council would be led. There was no Conservative Leader and no Council Leader. There was no cabinet or people assigned to committees. This would be the case until June 7th at the Council meeting where we would confirm the Mayor and vote for a leader. As a Conservative there would be various meetings and communications to resolve our own leadership in this time, as I am sure there were meetings of the other groups, to work out many "what ifs" and who would do what. It really depended on a vote for Council leadership at the Council meeting, once we resolved who the Conservative leader would be.
A few emails and telephone calls came my way on the subject of who might lead the Tories. They were not just from fellow Maidstone Council members. Many people were keen to influence me. I made it clear from my point of view: whoever does the job MUST have rural sympathies and a proven record of understanding rural communities. My vote may not count in amongst many, so I admit I lobbied others in favour of certain candidates that emerged. My other fellow Headcorn ward member shared my convictions. We both wanted our Local Plan issues taken seriously and FAIR consideration given to our lovely ward. We had rural issues we wanted taken seriously.
So the next 48 hours was made up of lots of uncertainty and working up to a Conservatives meeting on Friday 30th. It was quite busy!
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