Local Elections 2023: ​Debate, not hate is way forward

​Whilst the council here in Peterborough has no overall control, the Conservatives have the largest number of councillors, currently with 28. The MPs who serve the city council area of Peterborough are both Conservative so to suggest that politics here in Peterborough has a ‘Tory flavour’ or a ‘blue hue’ is something of an understatement.

As the recently elected leader of the Labour group in Peterborough, it’s my job to lead our party to try to make inroads into that Conservative number. All parties are finding it difficult to recruit candidates who are committed to becoming a councillor.

When the Soke of Peterborough was in its prime, the councillors were often local businessmen (yes, men) and council meetings held on a Thursday afternoon, the traditional half day closing here in the city when most of the shops closed.

Politics, and Peterborough, has changed a lot since then. We have diasporas from cultures and communities across the world making the city not only one of the fastest growing but culturally diverse in the country.

Meetings and the participants now take place across the week and engage people from across the political spectrum. As a diverse, multi-cultural city, how do we engage more people to help us grow and shape our city?

At last Full Council, I had the privilege of proposing a motion called ‘Debate Not Hate’. Sadly, seven out of ten councillors are experiencing some form of abuse, sometimes in person but most often written at any one time.

We are increasingly familiar with the term ‘keyboard warrior’. Those people who infest social media and ‘troll’ or abuse people, often for no good reason whatsoever.

No guts and, often, no political allegiance. Just abusive people who hide behind a cloak of anonymity.

These people claim free speech.

This is true but when we ask ordinary folk to step forward to take the first few steps to becoming councillors, to serve our city in a variety of ways, they are subjected to abuse.

I would like the Labour group to lead the administration of this city for the first time in nearly 25 years. For far too long the ‘blue hue’ has had far too much power in the city and it is time for a change. We will accept a coalition with a partner if that is what the voters wish.

As importantly, I would like the Hate to stop. We don’t have to like our political opponents, but they are our opponents, not our enemies.

Stale policies, old style thinking and mistakes from the Conservatives that drove our city towards the edge of bankruptcy less than a year ago suggest that we ‘open the windows’ and let some fresh air blow through the corridors of power.

That our leadership reflects a growing, modern, vibrant city that is the gateway to East Anglia. This means that we need to encourage the brightest and the best to come forward and support them, not put them off by trolling and hate.

As the campaign season begins, let us together for those willing to put themselves forward to build a better Peterborough and a brighter future.