Reasons to be a councillor

• Becoming a councillor gives you the opportunity to genuinely make a difference to the community you live in.
• Being a councillor is a personally rewarding experience and gives you a deep sense of fulfilment - something you may not get from your day job.
• Serving on a council stretches and challenges you to work simultaneously on two levels - dealing with individual needs and concerns and balancing these with providing strong leadership for the entire community.
• As an ethnic minority woman councillor you have the opportunity to ensure that councils reflect the diverse communities we live in. The more representative the council, the stronger, more relevant and more successful the policies will be for everyone.
• As a councillor you have the important role to play of sending a visible message to others who identify with you that the public arena is open to them too.

Next steps…

• Consider whether you would like to be a Councillor for a particular political party or as an independent.
• Do some research to find out what the different parties represent and if they match your views/beliefs, then you need to join. Go to their websites for more information
• Be aware that you cannot stand as a Councillor if you are already an employee of that Council but you can stand in a neighbouring borough.
• London Councils launched a campaign and useful guidance, including "How Do I Become a Councillor?"  Visit their website at: http://www.beacouncillor.org.uk. Although it refers to London elections, the basic principles do apply across the country.
• Contact your local Councillors too, which can be found on your local Council’s website. Each Council also has a local Council democratic or electoral services team and details are on their website or contact the local town hall.
• For specific BME-related questions Contact Operation Black Vote (OBV) tel: 020 8983 5430/5431 Email: info@obv.org.uk. OBV maintains a list of people interested in various public positions (Councillors, JPs etc) to inform them when training or shadowing events are available. For further information visit: www.obv.org.uk.