Greens offer voters more power over councillors

Written by Pete Goodwin Saturday, 16 January 2010

The Greens have decided to go it alone with their own "recall" policy, after the other parties rejected Cllr Charlie Bolton's bid to make it council policy last July.

It means that voters who elect Green councillors to the city council in the May election will get an extra guarantee of accountability.

One of the Greens' candidates is Alex Dunn, who will be standing in his home ward of Westbury-on-Trym.  He explained:

"The 'recall' system means that the electorate can raise a petition for a councillor's resignation.  If enough people sign, it forces a by-election."  

"Sometimes councillors do behave badly but we are stuck with them until the next election.   The same goes for all those MPs who systematically abused the expenses system for private gain.  It's one of the things that has given politicians such a bad name."

Southville councillor Charlie Bolton added:

"When I asked the full council to agree to a 'recall' policy, the other parties made all sorts of excuses why they couldn't take it on."

"Well, the Greens are doing it:  if 20% of the electorate call for a by-election, fair enough, there should be a by-election."  

"All our candidates will be making that commitment. I hope the other parties will be prepared to do the same - but I'm not holding my breath"

Notes:  

The principle of "Recall" has long been accepted by the Green Party, but in Bristol we now have our first detailed policy explaining how it would work.  The policy can be seen here

Contact:

Alex Dunn, 0117 962 2475
Charlie Bolton, (work) 0117 353 4580
Pete Goodwin, 01275 543280