ConservativeHome's Local Government Blog

No Conservative should ever use the expression "post-code lottery"

That's a conclusion from an article by Christina Dykes for the Local Government Chronicle (PDF of full piece):

"The expression 'post-code lottery' should be banned from the Conservative lexicon.  Conservatism is all about pragmatism, not centralised control.  If localism is to be realised then a variation in service deliveries and priorities should be expected."

Christina also wants Conservatives to stop using the term "equality":

"The term 'equality' also means something different to Conservatives and to old and new Labour.  To the latter it means equality of outcome; to the former it means equality of opportunity.  Nonetheless I know many Conservative administrations where boxes are blindly ticked when it comes to doling out public money to single issue groups on the basis of equality rather than need."

So much public sector speak is now designed to confuse and intimidate.  Christina Dykes is right.  Tories need to break through the jargon and say what we mean to voters.

Christina Dykes: Councillors need to do more to play out Conservative values in their Councils

Christina Dykes, Political Director (Conservative) for the Leadership Centre for Local Government, on the need for a unifying Conservative language for local government.

On the day the Councillors Commission is due to report on its recommendation which rumour suggests will have far-reaching consequences on the way political parties select and support candidates for local government, let me offer a few thoughts of my own for Conservatives.

When I was asked in 2006 by the Leadership Centre for Local Government to set up a leadership course for the most talented of Conservative councillors, my aim was and still is, to counter the image of Conservatism in local government that had formed in my own mind.

It is a picture, note - not a vision.  I can see a map of England laid out in front of me.  All over the country there are silos representing councils: some are tall, dignified and modern; others are small, squat and sturdy.  Too many are in decay with crumbling cornices, broken windows and sprouting weeds from hanging gutters.  Around some there is great activity with swirling birds and swarming ant-like people running hither and thither.  In most there is nothing.  What is missing is any kind of interconnection between them.  There are no connecting electricity pylons or telegraph poles: just a series of buildings plopped over the geography.

And herein lies the problem. After ten years of Labour administrations, there is no unifying Conservative language for local government.  What activity there is, has been set by the Government which, at its most fundamental is about place and how local government and other public agencies interrelate to provide joined-up governance for that area.  It is a positive agenda and properly interpreted should put the council in the driving seat to shape and lead across its town or county or city. However within this overall vision there are the inevitable values of Labour Governments, particularly uniformity, interference and obfuscation.  At the same time, the Conservative Party - the largest party in local government by some way – is missing a great opportunity to interpret Labour’s national policy into a Conservative tradition and apply it to those councils and areas we control.