With local elections just four days away, the results for Somerset could not be more significant as voters go to the polls to determine who will represent them as the county moves forward towards becoming a unitary authority.
With national politics, and the misdemeanours of our parliamentary representatives, dominating the news in recent weeks it is natural for there to be a tendency towards this to impact on local decisions. In my view, this is a mistake.
Although a highly respected South Somerset Conservative councillor for almost 20 years, I have never been in favour of voting along party lines. What should matter to us all is the suitability of individual candidates to accurately and honestly represent us; someone with integrity that you know can be trusted, even if you may not always agree with their views.
Sadly, at all levels of government this is often in short supply. I raise this now, because in February of this year at SSDC’s full council meeting I was publicly subjected to an unprovoked attack on my personal integrity by fellow councillors, including Cllr. Seib, Cllr. Dance, Cllr. Clarke and Cllr. Soughton, along with several others. One after the other, in a pre-planned and concerted verbal assault, they sought to defame me, suggesting that my decision to stand down was in some way connected with dishonest behaviour. Such was the serious nature of their comments that I had no option but to take legal action. The consequence of this was that they have all agreed to issue corrective statements at the next full council meeting on 19th May, conveniently after the election.
What is key to the situation is that the comments about me were made in response to a vote of no confidence in the leader of SSDC (brought forward by Cllr. Martin Wale as a result of the investigation into alleged corruption and fraud within SSDC), but completely unrelated to the issue in hand; the non-disclosure of information relating to claims of corruption and fraud. During the meeting this was never properly addressed as is evident from the video recording of the proceedings.
In deciding who to vote for this week, I would urge local residents to question and challenge the honesty and reliability of those seeking to represent them.
Just this week a colleague of the councillors involved approached me to say how sorry they were about the comments that were made by members of their own party, describing the behaviour of those mentioned as despicable. I could not agree more.
In my experience several of those currently in positions of authority have selective memories.
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