Climbing down both on sides of a fence is difficult and undignified - as councillor Jo Broom has demonstrated to those of us who have been watching with growing disbelief the latest antics at the Guildhall.

Last month she was re-elected to serve as parish (”city”) councillor for Fisherton & Lower Bemerton. Although (like most of us) she doesn’t think any parish councillors should be party candidates, she chose to stand once again as a Lib-Dem - thus benefitting from that party’s active support during her successful election campaign.

Having done so, she then quit the Lib-Dems and joined the Conservatives (who, unlike her party colleagues, had nominated her as council leader). She did so, she says, because “protracted and nasty party political arguments have no place at this level” of local government.

Er, run that past me again? Standing for one party and then switching to a rival post-election won’t cause a nasty argument?

It’s always seemed to me the best way of judging someone’s actions is to ask yourself: if this had been me, would I have done the same thing? Judging from the storm of protest on Twitter and facebook, the answer from many people is no.

If cllr Broom felt so strongly about being apolitical, why didn’t she stand as an independent? If she believes parish councillors shouldn’t sport party labels (and I agree with her), why swap her own orange badge for a blue one? What would be her attitude towards someone who follows her example by (for example) standing as a Green and then declaring post-election that really they prefer the National Front?

Above all, what does she suppose her constituents now think of her? Does she think they see her action as being high-principled? There’s an easy way to find out. She just needs to resign and then offer herself once again to the electors of Fisherton & Lower Bemerton - but this time as a Tory. 

  • Sunday's Stars Appeal Walk for Wards was the biggest and best yet. We were on our usual meeting-and-greeting and registration duties, and were very impressed by how smoothly organiser Dave Cates' team of volunteers processed so many people in so short a time. This was largely due to using the Park-and-Ride shuttle bus service to ease the pressure and shorten the queues. After his final run, one of the drivers then locked up his bus and joined the walk. Now that's public service!

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here