A few things on the itinerary for the new year…

Yesterday’s post was a bit sombre, I guess, but as a way of feeling my way back into this blogging malarkey, it was a start. Perhaps a look forward might be interesting though - no promises, mind!

My role as a Parish Councillor became more “interesting” in 2023, as I’m now a remote councillor, following our move to (unparished) Ipswich in September. I would have been prepared to stand down and leave the opportunity to someone else, but Council want to keep me, and I’m content to stay so long as they want me. And whilst I suspect that this is at least in part because nobody wants to be Chair, I should celebrate the fact that they respect my ability sufficiently to feel it worth keeping me.

That means that, by extension, my role as Chair of the Mid Suffolk South branch of the Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC) and thus a SALC Board member remains ongoing as well as my place on the National Assembly of the National Association of Local Councils. I am perpetually surprised by the level of competence credited to me by my colleagues, but enjoy the intellectual challenge that the roles offer. I’ve learned more about communities in these various roles than I imagined possible, and it has offered food for thought in terms of my own roles and my view of the world.

My hope in 2024 is that I can continue to make a contribution, both in terms of ideas and support, at all levels, and I’d like to improve my communication levels in order to aid my community and spread the word about our sector - there’s some incredible work being done out there, and a real opportunity to make lives better.

Politics has been a bit of a drag in recent times. And, whilst a General Election will have a national impact, Suffolk politics is a bit predictable and not exactly inspiring. Yes, we’ll almost certainly get a new MP - and Tom Hunt really won’t be missed - but with little prospect of Liberal Democrat success in the county, I feel that I’d be better off contributing some time and effort to a regional target seat. That means Chelmsford or South Cambridgeshire, I guess.

My place on Federal Council brought with it a little frustration in 2023. Admittedly, coming to the show late may not have helped - I was the first to join via a by-election after a resignation as early as April - but I sense that not only is Federal Council still in search of a role, but that some of its members have an agenda other than that of broad scrutiny. By their manifestos shall ye know them… I did have an idea late last year which might be developable though…

I’ll be at Spring Conference in York - at least, I’ve booked a hotel - which will hopefully make me feel a bit more connected.

I’m still a member of the ALDE Party Council too, something I really rather enjoy. It isn’t hugely onerous - two meetings a year isn’t going to require massive exertion - and because I stood back from Federal International Relations Committee, I’m a step removed from the day to day international work of the Party. But perhaps I should be a little more engaged with the Liberal Democrat European Group (LDEG) and Liberal International British Group in the year ahead.

My other core activity is my day editorship of Liberal Democrat Voice - Monday is my day. It’s been a bit of a struggle of late to raise the enthusiasm to do the job I really ought to do, and I occasionally wonder if LDV really has a role any more. But we do retain quite a lot of credibility, offer an outlet for original and/or radical thinking, and maintain a space for courteous dissent from the leadership view of the world, so I’m going to try a bit harder to keep my bit of the show on the road in 2024.

There’s also my job, of which there is little I can publicly say. I can (theoretically) retire this year, but don’t see much to be gained by doing so - I’m likely to be a long time retired, and work provides a valued framework around which to organise my life. I also, curiously, enjoy my job, albeit it isn’t what I’d set out to do when I left university all those years ago.

But above everything is Ros. It’s sometimes hard to believe that we’ve been married for fifteen years, but Wikipedia says that it’s true, so it must be. I’m still not entirely convinced that she couldn’t do better, but I’m happy to count my blessings. We’ll doubtless continue to explore our new surroundings, travel and dote on our granddaughter, and contribute to making the world about us a slightly better, slightly nicer place than it might otherwise be. It doesn’t sound hugely ambitious, I confess, but in a world where there appear to be plenty of people whose ambitions run counter to that, it’s a contribution.

And so, I’d better get on, hadn’t I?…