Political Viewpoint

BY Kevin Buck, former Prittlewell Councillor, Cabinet & Shadow Cabinet Member Transport, Infrastructure & Environment at Southend City Council.
I write this with some sense of melancholy, as this will be my last Leigh News political viewpoint. After 8 years representing both Prittlewell ward and the residents of the city of Southend, which I have spent over 50 years of my life in, I lost my council seat on May 7th.
Not only has it been a huge honour to represent the residents of the town/city I have spent nearly all my life in, but I am immensely grateful to the team at Leigh News for the opportunity to make my small contribution as an elected representative through this wonderful feature and publication.
As much as I may disagree with some of the contributors contributions, long may this feature continue in the interest of free speech and democracy. As a contributor, I can confirm that not one of my articles has ever been edited by the publication.
So as I bid farewell to this column, what have I learned over the last 8 years of public life? The first is that there are a myriad of reasons why someone decides to enter public life as a Councillor.
It can be for political power and control, narcissistic personal ego and/or ambition, career development, a genuine desire to do good for the local community through public service and of course not least of all, the money!!
I can confirm that based on my experience and perception, all of the aforementioned exists within Southend council.
It was only after my initial election in May 2018, that I became aware that councillors got paid. I had assumed it was a voluntary role. This was the first realisation of why some decide to become a councillor in Southend!
I have not mentioned this before whilst being a Councillor for what I hope is obvious reasons, but now would seem an appropriate time? For those that know me and the local charities I work with, will know those charities have been beneficiaries of my councillor’s allowance over the years.
In today’s seemingly impossible world, there is an inherent mistrust of what are seen as ‘politicians’, however, I never considered myself a politician and stood to be a councillor as a public servant. The two are very different!
As an engineer, businessman and entrepreneur and having had a long and successful professional career in the corporate and private sectors, I felt I had a lot to offer my city and wanted to give back. I would like to think that I largely achieved that in 8 years?
As an example. As you drive through the Kent Elms junction on the A127, you will see the magnificent pedestrian footbridge that I lobbied for and wrote the reports to get this put in, mainly for the school children, less able or vulnerable and of course, the dreaded 3 in to 2 tapper lane heading in to Southend that has now been removed and made much safer, which I commissioned as Cabinet member in 2023. This will now be made permanent soon.
What I have also learnt though, as in all walks of life, there are many good people, both elected councillors and civil servants trying to do the best they can within the constraints of the environment we all operate in. I am particularly grateful to the officers that I worked with at Southend council. They work in challenging circumstances and at times, with extremely challenging people and I commend them for their professionalism!
So what’s the point of highlighting this? Well, we live in very strange times at the moment and my concern is that things will get far stranger before some sense of stable normality returns. Everything seems to go in cycles.
As the decedent of a Jewish family, I remain acutely aware of the very long history of my ancestors and their persecution throughout Europe over the century’s. My great grandfather was the first of his family to settle in Britain at the beginning of the 20th century after fleeing Europe. I remain deeply concerned at the current rhetoric and extreme antisemitism being witnessed in the UK today. ‘Those that fail to learn from history, are destined to repeat it’!
The political spectrum in the UK now resembles an artist’s palette and the 2 party politics seems to be a thing of the past, so nothing is either certain nor predictable.
What was a surprise to me, is that the electoral commission concedes to an element of lying withing ‘politics’ and concludes that it is up to the electorate to do their due diligence and decide for themselves who they believe or not!
Remember how in the lead up to July 2024 general election, Starmer in his rhetoric promised he would ‘smash the gangs’, ‘no tax rises’, ‘cheaper energy’, ‘freeze council taxes’. Have you seen any of this delivered by his government?
In the words of the great Thomas Sowell ‘when the people demand the impossible, only liars satisfy’.
This is why it is so important to get to know who you are voting for. Political rhetoric on a leaflet, social media or a press conference is nothing without the integrity, knowledge and ability to deliver it when in power. We should no longer think of ‘left’ or ‘right’, as the political palette is no longer that simple.
In Southend council this week, Labour have once again formed a coalition with and are supported by the Greens, the Lib Dems and the Independents. Vote any of those and you get Labour.
Reform abstained on a vote to support a conservative council leader and offered no candidate from their own party. Unequivocal proof that a vote for anything other than the Conservatives, is a vote for Labour in Southend!
Thank you to the Leigh News, thank you to you for reading and thank you to the residents of Prittlewell who entrusted me for 8 years with their vote. I will be back and hope to once again represent the city as a councillor in the place I have called home for 50 years!
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