The rest is local politics, or is it?
What national journalists don't understand about local politics
I came across an interesting snippet of Alastair Campbell’s and Rory Stewart’s podcast The Rest is Politics recently. On the 17 November episode, they briefly explained why they don’t talk more about local politics and then lamented the loss of Marvin Rees as mayor of Bristol.
“RS: It is very striking how much local government matters to people but also how little people know about their local representatives. I was struck that people can often name their MP but struggled to name local councillors, local mayors. And that’s very frustrating because often the things that mattered; when I was a constituency MP, people wanted to talk to me about local issues, could be even parking, planning things that I actually as a member of parliament had no control over, they were run by the district or the county council. But they didn’t vote in local elections, didn’t know the names of their district and council councillors, and we had this very sad thing in Bristol, which is they just voted to get rid of a mayor who I thought was doing quite a good job
AC: Yes, he was terrific, yeah.
RS: So I think it’s very sad that Britain seems to have this allergy towards local government. I’d like to be like the French where you have a mayor in each small village and town who you can meet at the supermarket, poke in the chest, and hold accountable for what’s happening.
AC: I think the other thing that’s related to that is the downgrading of local journalism as well, that local papers really really struggle now, part of that again is people’s habits; going online, or dare I say, listening to podcasts, rather than getting their local paper whatever that might be. I mean, I guess the other thing I’d say, Ash [the person who asked the question], is that if we were to focus … so we’ve got the Jeremy Hunt statement coming up, I bet, there will be, my hunch is that amongst the kind of balancing he’s trying to do we’re going to see rises in council tax.
Councils are I think get an awful lot of criticism , some of it deserved, a lot of it, I think, people underestimate the extent to which councils are dependent upon national government and therefore that explains maybe , it’s another reason why, we do focus more on national government and also Ash, I think you know, that both Rory and I have got shared interest in foreign policy and foreign affairs and also a shared belief that our media doesn’t focus enough on it.’
Let’s examine some of the points they make:
Local government matters but people don’t know their councillors or mayors (as much as they do MPs), and don’t vote in local elections.
It was sad that Bristol voted out their mayor who has done good things and was terrific.
They failed to see the irony of them knowing Bristol’s mayor Marvin Rees so well that they could be sad about his loss, even though they’re not Bristol residents. By the way, Rees loses none of his term. The committee system comes in once his terms ends, in May 2024.
Do they really believe they know more about the Bristol mayor than people who turned out to vote him out of a job, and at greater numbers than chose to bring in a mayoral system?
That’s the first curious point.
We don’t get to hear what good and terrific things he has done. Perhaps they were referring to some of the following:
His £400k to his own office after the budget was decided, and cutting newspapers from libraries for the poorest.
Giving his own boxing club land valued at £1.35m without declaring any interest.
the cancellation of an arena in collusion with the developers,
the way he banned journalists from his press briefings and
His external head of comms leaving amid criticisms not only from the media but also from parents of children with SEND who have been spied on (with her team’s help),
His anti-LGBT+ church, which would not bless same sex marriages.
or maybe him spending £110k spying on Twitter when not insulting residents in Bristol in general and those submitting statements to public forum.
They don’t mention the fact that the mayor supported the police against the protestors, or his close links to Evangelical pro-Trump churches in the US, or that he lost £43 million on the energy company he refused to shut down just before an election, or the £60m overspend on refurbishing a music hall.
The dream mayor
Rory Stewart went on to talk about what he wished we could have.
Mayors should be open to public scrutiny and held accountable like local mayors in France where you can confront them in person.
Had he known more about the Bristol mayor, he may have agreed with others who call him aggressive, rude, petty and abusive in his behaviour to all manner of people, ranging from other politicians, journalists and members of the public who go to meetings to ask questions or make statements.
But local journalism…
Alastair Campbell then goes on to say that the real problem is that local journalism has been downgraded and is really really struggling.
In reality, local news providers (for the most part) have never had it so good. The big companies are doing great. Six companies (Gannett, JPI Media, Reach, Tindle, Archant and Iliffe) account for nearly 84% of all local newspaper titles.
National World and Reach publications get around £5m of free staff from the Local News Reporting scheme, while Reach’s CEO makes £4m a year and the company's pre-tax profits were up 9% to £143.5m from a £615m turnover (24% margin). Both publishers have papers in Bristol.
Newspaper owners talk about the gloom and doom of local newspapers and needing to make cuts. In fact, they are very successful business enterprises. Big profits and high margins attract buyers and increase the concentration of ownership.
Circulation may have dropped but ads are up; digital revenue increased by 25.4% in 2021 a year or 38.6% over two years to £148.3m. (link)
The problem, our podcasters tell us, is that people’s habits have changed — they go online and listen to podcasts. However, that’s where local news goes too. They are now primarily online and even produce podcasts.
Local journalism has been downgraded because the big money earners prefer cuts to salaries for staff.
The only local media not making millions, as far as I know, is Bristol247, whose editor* is not ashamed to say he gets paid little more than an LDR.
In comparison, the self-proclaimed community paper The Bristol Cable has raised over £1m in grants in the last few years. Most recently from the Gates foundation.
Conclusion
So before you take advice about local politics from professional pundits caught up in the Westminster bubble, I’d suggest you look to some citizen journalism to find out what is going on.
The same goes for advice on who to vote for as an MP, now that our mayor has decided to stand for selection as Bristol North East’s first constituency.
My advice would be, if you met Marvin Rees at the supermarket, don’t approach him. We’ve seen what he’s like with the cameras on him. Take heed.
If Alastair and Rory knew about Rees’s Trump-supporting evangelist church and his plans with Lord Nat Wei to build Monastery 2.0, maybe they could be persuaded there’s something interesting in local politics too.
Seeing through the distorting lens of the Westminster Bubble very darkly. But then, they are the Westminster Bubble – it’s a mindset. *Us* – an elect empowered to subject *them* – the unkempt and unruly masses – to *our* rules, *our* will. Perpetuating that mindset is a narrative centred on power – who wields it, who’s subjected to it. And how that bears upon the status of truth: might makes right; truth is what you are told must be true, or else; history is written by the victors, etc.
I’ll always remember how Alastair Campbell reacted after Andrew Gilligan accused the Blair government of ‘sexing up’ the Iraq dossier: how dare this journo have the temerity to question the integrity of this government? This reminds me of Rees’ reaction when he was put on the spot by Alex Seabrook.