Joanne Howcroft-Scott Archives - The Political Medway

March 23, 2020March 23, 2020

iFAQ: Councillor allowances

So it’s a bit of a weird time, but we’re all sitting at home, so what better time to start publishing some local politics articles again? They won’t be about the current situation, as most were already in the can before this kicked off. That being said, if anyone fancies writing something with a local angle on the current situation, hit us up.

Before we all locked ourselves away from the outside world, Medway had been facing some debate about the appropriate level of allowance for councillors. While most council staff received a 1% pay increase, councillor allowances increased by 14%. How much councillors receive is a complicated question, so we decided to ask every Medway councillor the following:

Do you feel the current allowance of £10,421 for councillors represents fair remuneration for the time spent carrying out your duties?

As usual, we told all of them that we would publish their responses unedited. You can find them below in the order they were received.

November 5, 2019November 5, 2019

iFAQ: What benefits does a City of Culture bring anyway?

Don’t let it ever be said that Medway doesn’t like to try and punch above it’s weight. Despite not being a city and having hardly any culture, councillors of all colours have thrown their weight behind a campaign for Medway to become the UK City of Culture in 2025. There seems to be a lot of mixed messages about what this actually means, so we decided to ask every councillor the following question:

If Medway wins it’s 2025 City of Culture bid, what benefits would this bring to residents of your ward and the wider area?

As usual, we told all of them that we would publish their responses unedited. You can find them below in the order they were received.

October 22, 2019October 22, 2019

One night on Twitter

Quite the day for local politics Twitter last night, as over the course of a few hours we saw a councillor sharing anti-trans content, activists sharing anti-semitic tropes, autism being weaponised, and a staggering amount of hypocrisy all round.

It’s hard to even know where to begin.

October 7, 2019October 7, 2019

iFAQ: Language in the chamber

For our iFAQ this week, we decided to ask councillors about the use of language at Medway Council chambers, following discussions about what is appropriate in our national politics. As such, we sent the following question to every Medway councillor:

Given recent debates in Parliament about the use of language in politics, do you feel that language at Medway Council meetings is always appropriate, or would an element of moderation improve our political discourse?

As usual, we told all of them that we would publish their responses unedited. You can find them below in the order they were received.

June 18, 2019June 17, 2019

iFAQ: National Citizen Service

For our iFAQ this week, we decided to ask councillors, smaller parties, and other relevant stakeholders for their views on what National Citizen Service does for Medway. Partly because we’re two middle aged guys who know very little about the NCS, and partly because it’s been in the news a bit recently.

As usual, we told all of them that we would publish their responses unedited. You can find them below in the order they were received.

June 3, 2019June 3, 2019

iFAQ: Introducing our new councillors

As our new councillors in Medway get settled into their roles, we decided to ask them all a couple of basic questions about their motivations for wanting to be a councillor and the priorities for their ward.

As usual, we told all of them that we would publish their responses unedited. You can find them below in the order they were received.