Just over a year after being elected, a young Orkney councillor has reflected on her path into the job, its challenges, and why there are not more young councillors.
Heather Woodbridge won a by-election in October last year to become one of three representatives for the North Isles ward on the islands council.
At the age of 26, she took over the seat held by her father, Dr Kevin Woodbridge, who died six months earlier after a short illness.
Dr Woodbridge had served on the council since 2017, having previously been a GP in North Ronaldsay.
‘I was really interested in local affairs’
Heather secured 638 first preference votes in the poll, with the next most popular candidate receiving 158.
She says being a councillor is one of the best things she’s done and intends to run again in next May’s council elections.
Despite taking a route marked with tragedy into the job, she feels she has landed on her feet.
“Me and my dad were very close”, she said.
“We often spoke about council business and what he was up to as a councillor. I was really interested in local affairs.
“Understanding what the job meant, what you actually had to do, and how you did things, gave me a head start in knowing what I was getting into.
“That definitely played a part in me standing.
“A big part of it was really to honour him and I’m so glad I did it.”
When Heather took office, she became the youngest elected member on Orkney Islands Council.
There is an age gap of around 18 years between her and the county’s next youngest councillor, Magnus Thomson.
Having a younger councillor is obviously good for representation, but does it make doing the job any different?
Salary not an incentive
She believes the basic salary of under £18,000 a year may deter young candidates.
“This is a really interesting situation”, Heather said. “When you think about the demographics for a councillor, they’re retired and at the end of their career. They’re not interested in the pay because it is quite low.
“It’s not particularly attractive for young, working people. Or, say you have dependents or you’re needing to save for something or pay a mortgage, it doesn’t really fit those ambitions.
“You have to be in a secure financial position. Not everyone is. It’s certainly not an incentive to stand, in my opinion.
There’s absolutely no barrier to me being able to achieve the same as my colleagues
Heather Woodbridge
“I think that has arisen from cost-cutting and other situations. It’s very hard for a council to say to the public ‘we want to be paid more.’
“Of course, there are pay differences across Scotland between local authorities.
“Councillors are paid less in Orkney than in other local authorities and the officer pay is also not comparable to other organisations.
“It’s a council-wide problem, it’s not just with the councillors.”
Her age doesn’t make being a councillor any easier or more difficult, she believes, just different.
“It’s important to have different perspectives. I’ll see things much differently than my colleagues because I’ll have a different route to take to get to the same point.
Challenging the stereotype
“In terms of the job itself, there’s absolutely no barrier to me being able to achieve the same as my colleagues. I work just as hard and I’m just as competent.
“Perhaps the differences are really in perception.
“Maybe it’s more a case of people getting used to the idea of what a councillor can be and what they look like and who they can be.
“I think it’s really important to have visibility so people can see themselves in that position and to challenge the stereotype of retired men being councillors.”