For your local community

Some people feel that they would like to be a councillor and serve their community but that they do not want to stand on a party platform and are worried about being "forced" to follow the "party whip" or "line". There are many misconceptions about the "party whip", which in reality is applied much less than is feared and generally simply means all Labour councillors agreeing to support the policies set out in the manifesto on which they were elected in the first place. There are also increasingly opportunities through overview and scrutiny to explore issues free from any kind of "party whip".

Being a Labour councillor rather than an independent provides you with:

• a strong base in shared values and beliefs with other Labour councillors
• the support and camaraderie of other Labour councillors and the wider party (particularly valuable when times are hard)
• a clear and transparent set of commitments to the public set out in a common election manifesto which makes you more accountable and enhances democracy

In return, to provide the strong local leadership that local government needs and to be a representative voice for local people, the Labour Party needs people of vision, passion, integrity and commitment. Across all the political parties there are some groups who are currently under-represented as councillors:

• women make up only 30% of councillors
• the average age of councillors is 58 years - and less than 14% councillors are under the age of 45
• Only about 4% councillors are from black or minority ethnic backgrounds - less than half the proportion in the population as a whole.

Labour has taken a number of steps to increase the representativeness of its councillors - for example, when ward parties are selecting more than one candidate for a ward, a minimum proportion (usually at least one out of three candidates) have to be women. However, we know that there is much more still to do and welcome candidates from all under-represented groups.

Being a Labour councillor and representing local people is a privilege and an honour. It is also challenging, fascinating, rewarding, demanding, and sometimes even fun.