Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scott Begbie: It would be foolish not to use your council election vote

Local elections take place across Scotland on Thursday May 5 (Photo: Abby Dude/Shutterstock)
Local elections take place across Scotland on Thursday May 5 (Photo: Abby Dude/Shutterstock)

Bring on the council elections this Thursday… because that will put a stop to the gangs of rosette-wearing wannabes hanging around street corners, mugging folk for their votes on Saturday mornings.

Mind you, I did that in reverse at the weekend when I noticed the Conservatives setting up their stall in Stonehaven while I was out to pick up some milk.

I couldn’t help but ask the chap standing behind a tabletop full of leaflets if he would give me a yes or no answer to one question – is Boris Johnson fit to be prime minister of the United Kingdom.

When he said that in his opinion it was “no”, I was suitably impressed at his honesty and let him get on with what looked to be a long day.

Now, it would be very easy to cast a jaded eye over the runners and riders for this Thursday’s council elections and think to yourself: “Why bother?”

Let’s face it, with the almost non-stop parade of headlines claiming scandal and mischief is rife, with fingers being pointed at parties of all political hues, it is tempting to just dismiss the lot. But that would be folly when it comes to council elections.

Local councils matter very much

The people asking for your vote on Thursday are the people who will be deciding almost every aspect of your daily life.

They are the folk who will decide how your kids are educated, when your bins get emptied, how the vulnerable are cared for, whether your local library stays open, whether or not the potholes on your street are fixed, if the arts will get any support.

The people asking for your vote on Thursday will decide how much council tax you pay (Photo: PA)

And then they will decide how much of your hard-earned cash they will take off you for all of this.

So, yes, local councils matter. They matter very much. And so do the people who run them.

This is why we all need to take a very close look at council candidates – and look beyond the party they are running for.

Make an informed choice

There are councillors in my area with political views diametrically opposed to mine. But they are still damn good advocates for Stonehaven and have done a power of good.

There are others whose worldview I share and endorse, but I’m painfully aware of never hearing from them from one election to the next.

If you can’t be bothered turning up to vote on Thursday, you are basically allowing other people to say how key aspects of your life will be for the next five years

So, look at their track record, run your eye over their achievements and what they have actually delivered. Is it all hot air and puffery, or are they really earning the wages we pay them? Then you can make an informed choice.

But, above all else, you have to make a choice.

Democracy only works if we all take part. If you can’t be bothered turning up to vote on Thursday, you are basically allowing other people to say how key aspects of your life will be for the next five years.

That’s quite a power we have at our disposal. Let’s use it wisely.


Scott Begbie is entertainment editor for The Press & Journal and Evening Express

Conversation