Julie Gunnell - City of York councillor

Representing the area where she has lived in York for twenty years, being involved with the local community and being able to represent local people's needs and views is important to Julie Gunnell, a councillor since 2007 and a lifelong Labour activist.

She works in the voluntary sector as a HR manager and manages to balance her work with having a family and being a councillor, and even finds time to play some sport and enjoy rugby league - a lifelong passion. As she says:

Despite this challenge, she says she enjoys everything about being a councillor, as a member of the Labour Group and on the council, even though they are currently in opposition. Labour in York has some clear campaigning priorities around introducing 20mph zones and improving recycling and bus services, and uses petitions and public consultations to communicate the public's views to the council.

In any given week, as well as her paid work, she may have five council meetings, from formal committee meetings to community groups and party meetings, and up to 100 emails to deal with. Her top tip to anyone thinking of becoming a councillor is:

The best thing about being a councillor?

Julie cites several achievements for her local area, including campaigning successfully to keep a local post office open.

She also highlights the important role of councillors in negotiating with powerful developers to get improvements for the local area, for example she has campaigned for a major development to be postponed and for the developer to engage with local people before going any further. The result?

Having a father who is a councillor encouraged Julie to put herself forward, but she says of the selection process that the most important thing is to be yourself and have a clear idea of how you want to contribute as a councillor.

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Julie Gunnell - City of York councillor: