An article extolling the virtues of political assistants has been published in the influential Input magazine. Input is the magazine of the Conservative Councillors’ Association, and is read by the Conservative’s 8,900 elected members across the country.
The article was written by CPON’s Chairman, Richard Ashton, and can be read in full below:
As the Chairman of the Conservative Political Assistants’ Network (CPON), which represents the 70-or-so Conservative political assistants in local government, I was recently invited to write an article for ConservativeHome.
The invite came following the publication of an article that appeared to mistake the work of political assistants with that of unregulated political ‘advisors’, from which it became apparent that there is still a lack of knowledge amongst Conservative ranks about the work of political assistants.
In the first instance, the article referred to the advisors as ‘courtiers and cronies’. This description certainly bears no resemblance to any Conservative political assistants that I know.
Indeed, while a local authority can employ an advisor, or a team of advisors, with little restriction on how they are used, or how much they are paid, this is certainly not the case with political assistants.
The role of local government political assistants was formalised under Margaret Thatcher’s premiership in 1989. Concerns about ‘jobs for the boys’ led to government legislation being introduced to combat these worries. As a result, the role of the political assistant was politically restricted and their pay capped by statute in 1995 – a cap that was not increased until 2006.
The legislation meant that if a council wanted to appoint political assistants, they could not just do it to benefit the ruling group, there had to be one for each of the three largest parties, providing that they had at least ten per cent of the council’s membership.
Today, political assistants play an important role in supporting councillors to run efficient and effective councils. A single political assistant may be employed to support a group of 30, 40, 50 or even 60 councillors. Compare this to a single backbench MP, who may employ three or four researchers for his own benefit.
One argument against political assistants that I have heard far too often in recent years is the claim that taxpayers’ money should not be used to employ somebody to undertake political work. Unfortunately that argument would see every local authority employee out of work overnight, as the very nature of local government dictates that all council employees work towards implementing political policies. It is churlish to suggest that political assistants are any different, particularly when we are banned from active political campaigning, whilst the majority of other employees are not.
In fact, employing a political assistant can prove to be very good value for money, allowing councillors to be more active and effective in their communities.
At this time of year, particularly, when council budgets are being set for the forthcoming year, political assistants – particularly those working for opposition groups – are crucial for studying the minutiae of a council’s finances, freeing up councillors to formulate the bigger picture.
In recent years, Gloucestershire County Council has received praise for their policy of providing funding for an extra 63 police officers in the county. Gloucestershire fully deserve all the praise they can get for their bold action, but it is of immense satisfaction that such a policy idea was born amongst CPON members back in 2002, one of whom was (and still is) Gloucestershire’s brilliant Richard Coates. Indeed, Richard’s Council Leader, Cllr. Barry Dare, has publicly declared that he is a “star”. Praise indeed from an experienced politician who has graciously admitted he originally opposed the use of political assistants.
I appreciate that there are those who don’t like the idea of political assistants. In my experience this is either down to an individual’s simple lack of knowledge about our role, or their inherent distrust of council officers. I simply say to those sceptics, go and speak to a Conservative councillor who enjoys the services of a political assistant, and see what they have to say.
In essence, we are honest, hard-working council employees; who work long hours and provide excellent research support for local groups, for no political reward. The ‘courtiers and cronies’ can speak for themselves.
For more information about CPON and the work of Political Assistants, please visit www.cpon.info.
Richard Ashton
Chairman
Conservative Political Officers’ Network (CPON)
Political Assistant to the Leader of the Opposition
Tameside MBC
