In an article entitled “Labour closes its eyes and pinches its nose”, published in yesterday’s Sunday Times, Camilla Cavendish wrote principally about the problems of poor leadership in Rotherham Council. A Council she describes as an uncountable, one-party state, which has now had to be taken over by Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary. She goes on, however, to make this more general observation on the disconnect between local and national politics:

“This [the takeover] is a massive intervention in democratic institutions. But there has been no outcry. For local democracy is getting thinner and thinner. Fewer and fewer people vote in local elections, especially if the outcome is a foregone conclusion. And fewer and fewer MPs sit on local councils. In 1960 about a quarter of British MPs’ were also local councillors; now it is fewer than 1% . This is at odds with France, Finland and Spain, where most national politicians sit on their local authority. This gives them both a greater stake and more say. Working in Lambeth, I saw how hard the indefatigable MP Kate Hoey had to work sometimes to exert leverage over the council on behalf of voters.”

“The disconnect between local and national politics has made councils defensive and MPs reluctant to interfere……. “