News from neighbouring Shropshire…

When Cathy Salter put herself forward to be the candidate for the Lawley and Overdale Parish Council by-election, she hoped to get at least a sturdy 2nd place. As she said: “I joined the party in 2017. Before that, I was a Labour party member for years, and served for 8 years as a town councillor, bu then I joined the Liberal Democrats; they were pro-European, and aligned with my values and perspectives on the big issues such as climate change and community.”

She had worked as an NHS nurse, so she was used to being really busy. When she retired, she threw herself info campaigning and because of her experience, she took to it like a duck to water… What she found was that the complacency of other parties’ councillors meant local residents really had been taken for granted.

The issues

Cathy has big plans for the parish council she now serves on. “There’s an enormous problem with speeding. People use the back roads as a rat run road to avoid traffic lights. They go past primary school, then speed up after the bumps!
“There are also issues with the management company in the village. It doesn’t allow standard solar panels because they don’t go with the village aesthetic. People can have solar panels but they must look like slate rooves and can be very expensive.”

The campaign

“We did a leaflet on Saturday before the postal vote dropped, and we used marked registers to target those who voted in general & local elections. We sent blue letters, and did a knock & drop survey too. On polling day, I stood at the polling station at busy times greeting voters. I had a lot of Tory switchers, just because they had heard of me!”
“But it would have been impossible without support. Greg was the most amazing campaign manager, I couldn’t have done it without him. David Ellams did all the back room stuff – produced leaflets and blue letters etc. A couple of members, John and Irene Evans, stuffed envelopes and delivered. Cllr Anthony Lowe did lots of delivery too. I’m now worried about missing a name because there are so many wonderful people who helped (!) – thank you to all of them.”

The Win

“As soon as the vote was concluded, I asked for a recount. I didn’t realise that I had already won! Fortunately the count came back with exactly the same number of votes for each party, and I was declared the winner, by one vote! Winning was very nice, it was very amicable at the count too and they all congratulated me.

“I do have advice for anyone considering a career as a councillor … Try it! You get great experience and you learn so much about your local area. I picked up so many issues from my survey, things I didn’t know anything about locally. If you love where you live and you want it to be the best it can be, it’s definitely worth it as you will help, even if you don’t get elected.”

If Cathy’s story has inspired you to consider standing, then please get in touch, and join your local party branch. It’ll be worth it!

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