In 2022 a lot of attention will be lavished on candidates for Parliament as the next general election approaches. There is an inevitable danger that the good work done by other elected representatives will be overshadowed.
In particular, councillors are often taken for granted by their own parties. Beavering away at casework and leaflet delivery can often seem like an unappreciated effort. Their hard work to often goes unsung.
As a young councillor in a big London Local Authority, I faced the challenge of standing out and getting myself noticed. So I understand that It can be really hard to secure the recognition and responsibility you deserve.
So here are three New Year resolutions for councillors seeking to raise their profile in 2022:
FIRST, Be Curious. Learn new things, whether these are your own skills or specialisms within the council. Politics is full of rejections and when opportunities arise they can come in unexpected areas. You need to be prepared to take on new challenges and climb the learning curve rapidly.
SECOND, Promote your activities. In politics if you achieve something but nobody knows about it then you might as well not have done it at all. Your newsletters and the local media are both great platforms for getting your message across. Don’t overlook the power of social media. It gives you absolute control over the messages you promote, although you will need the hide of a rhino to handle some of the replies from trolls and political opponents.
THIRD, and most importantly, you should resolve to do more speaking at big meetings and community events. Delivering a speech is always a challenging experience for everyone but in just a few minutes you can boost your image and do more for your reputation than hours of casework or campaigning will achieve.
For councillors looking to improve their speech writing and delivery, I’m launching a new service in January. I’m looking to work intensively with a small number of clients over the month to help them get noticed by writing and delivering memorable, star quality speeches.
Does this sound like something that would help you? If so, contact me for a free consultation to discuss the challenges you face and how I can help you to build your political career in 2022.