May 6

Election aftermath

For anyone involved in elections the count is a momentous occasion. Jubilation or despair. And overwhelming tiredness after long hours of tension. 

In Wales where unlike in my day it was all cut and dried in one day, the count dos not begin until next morning, meaning a sleepless night for the candidates.

For almost sixty years as a reporter and in local government I was caught up in the excitement, the frenzy.

There were stories to write and in my council years reflection on the difference the result might make to me if my council changed hands, which happened from time to.time.

The biggest upheaval in my career was when the London Borough Hounslow went from blue to red overnight with almost all the members who had appointed me thrown out. I soldiered on, unlike my colleague in the neighbouring borough who lost his job.

Whatever the size of the council the prize is to control, to have power. I was fortunate that all the ones I worked for showed initiative and innovation. None more so than my first, Caerphilly urban district, that became nationally noted for its pioneering work in housing - the first housing association in Wales - and promoting industry and commerce. I advertised our first industrial state at a penny a square foot. A USA firm, Gem Corporation, built the first hypermarket  in Wales in Caerphilly in the early 1960s.

In its most ambitious move, the council bought lock stock and barrel the town’s huge railway works, ‘the Welsh Swindon’ after its closure.

In the years that followed I kept ratepayers in Wales and London interested and informed of the work, the successes and problems of the men and women they had voted in.

I was the first local government public relations officer in,Wales, at that time looked upon with suspicion of bias towards my council. It was demanding yet rewarding occupation..

National governments may hold the purse strings but it is the local councillors who have the most impact on our ordinary daily lives. 

As the new councils take over in most difficult of circumstances they deserve our interest and support. I vote for that,