The Case for Independent candidates

With current local election turnout at an average of 32%, Independent candidates provide the electorate with more choice and help to unlock voter apathy.

There have been Independent Councillors serving their communities for well over 100 years, and at present there are some 2,000 in England and Wales, who carry on the tradition of open and accountable local government. Independent Councillors want to respond to the local community in a way that serves the community interest and not a party political interest...

17 councils are now controlled by Independents.

Being an Independent does not mean that the candidate has no political views. Almost everyone has some political views and tends towards supporting a particular national party on national issues. However, Independent Councillors believe that national concerns very often do not translate well into local government. And for the same reason many Town and Parish Councils are non-political. 

Independent Councillors have a belief that no party has a monopoly of good ideas and that local government depends on people of goodwill, people who listen to advice, argue, and debate, are capable of arriving at sensible decisions on their merits, for the good of the community, and are not driven by a higher party allegiance.

It is no coincidence that Independent politics remains at its strongest in rural areas - it is in these areas that communities are at their most fragile. The imperative has been to work together, collectively, irrespective of party beliefs and by building as a broad consensus as possible on how to advance the community interest. Independents make a virtue of their day-by-day decisions reflecting aspects of policies across parties.

More members of all political parties are becoming Independents to throw off the shackles of the party whip and escape from decision-making behind closed doors...

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