Alex Evelyn: Conservative councillors must remember our values of low taxation, personal responsibility, and freedom

Alex Evelyn is a former Kettering Town Councillor and a former councillor on North Northants Council.

Northamptonshire, like many parts of the country, faced a bruising defeat for the Conservatives two weeks ago. While it is always upsetting to see committed civic-minded individuals lose their seats we have to be honest with ourselves and ask: How did this happen?

While recriminations may initially point to the leadership and ‘factors beyond our control’, if we want to be a serious force in local government we need to look closer to home. And by that I mean with councillors and local candidates.

Yes, I accept there are many committed and hardworking councillors who go above and beyond what is expected – and yet who still did not pass the winning threshold. As a town councillor (serving a full term) and unitary councillor (winning a by-election in October 2024) I was always cognizant of the importance of engaging with my local community while delivering social good. This included engaging with the Women’s Institute, local businesses, and various community organisations. I was also able to use my ward initiative fund to host a Christmas Party for children and their parents from low-income backgrounds. All positive community-focused engagement – but still not enough to hold back the tide of defeat. I also presented a series of motions to full council campaigning for our local hospital rebuild that Labour committed to before the election – and once they had the keys to Downing Street subsequently removed our allocated funding – and against the family farm tax.

Yet, the fact remains that there are simply too many councillors who think the bare minimum will get them over the line, and in the era of five-party politics, the minimum standard of effort has just got a lot higher.

In Kettering, which is part of the North Northants Council area, we faced a double whammy. Reform successfully captured the zeitgeist of ‘nothing really works’; and whether accurate or not, people could see for themselves potholes left unrepaired for months on end. Added to that, annual council tax rises to the maximum rate (without triggering a referendum) made the argument that ‘Conservatives cut your taxes’ a somewhat laughable phrase to sell on the doorstep. The Greens were able to position themselves as the ‘community champions’ doing litter picks, planting trees, obtaining thousands of signatures to save woodlands and fight against further development, not to mention that they are very good at social media!

The end result: out of 20 unitary council wards up for grabs; we were left with three (in 2021 we had 19 out of 24 wards), Reform eight, Greens eight, and one Independent. On Kettering Town Council, the defeat was even more bruising with the Greens improving on their 5 wards and winning 19 out of 20 – with a sole Conservative keeping the torch of freedom alive.

Therefore, to understand our defeat we cannot just blame the centre, CCHQ, or national trends. We need to understand what it means to be a councillor and, more importantly, what it means to be a Conservative councillor. We can no longer expect that just turning up to council meetings, making decisions, general good governance, or a Facebook post will be enough. In my day job, as a management consultant, the buzz word of the moment is ‘value add’, and while at times I roll my eyes at hearing that phrase there is some credence to it. While Reform is a trickier nut to crack and many of their candidates won purely by being on the ballot paper (due to a charismatic national leader), they will have to deliver for their communities and be community focussed or they will quickly become a busted flush. The Greens have successfully demonstrated their ‘value add’ to our residents by being ever present, cultivating a social media presence, and are seen as ‘community champions’. Time will tell how they perform running a town council and what the impact of their decisions will mean for local ratepayers.

Furthermore, we can no longer be complacent with some colleagues suggesting February ‘is too early to knock doors, because people are not interested in politics’ (I was out from January, and was still unsuccessful); or ‘when presented with the choice between me or the Green candidate, I will beat them hands down’ (we lost heavily to the Greens). Also, we need to get the basics right when running the council. That means fixing the roads, collecting the bins, keeping the grass cut, promoting a lively and bustling high street, and ensuring development is proportionate and in keeping with the local aesthetics.

With a diminished councillor base, and Reform and the Greens seeking to take the wind out of our sails, we need to be organised and aggressively community focussed. This includes running a strong ground campaign accompanied with a slick social media presence – and being active in our communities with a clear understanding of issues and concerns. A good strategy for future success would be for Conservatives to: ‘say what we are going to do’; ‘do it’; then ‘say we have done it’.

As the dust settles on these terrible set of elections we need to remember why we are Conservatives, why we sought to stand for local government – and remember that our values of low taxation, personal responsibility, and freedom, are the best way to encourage strong communities and improved neighbourhoods.