‘All you need is a passion for the community’ – folk encouraged to stand for council elections
The local authority is renewing its “Who stands for the Council? It’s people like you” campaign in an effort to encourage folk to stand and ensure all seven council wards are contested. For the first of a series of six articles, we’ve been speaking to current councillors about their experiences in the role.
“One of the most important things is that there are no qualifications required to be a councillor,” says political leader Emma Macdonald. “You just need to care about your community and want to make a difference.”
Emma admits she didn’t “really know exactly what I was letting myself in for” when she first stood in the Shetland North ward back in 2017, at a time when she was running a successful café in Lerwick.
“It is certainly never boring and is a really good way to learn new skills and to broaden your knowledge about a huge range of topics,” she says.
A key skill in being able to work for the collective good of Shetland over a five-year period is building “good working relationships” with other councillors and officials, Emma feels.
She also believes that, with a sufficiently understanding employer, it is a role that can be done in conjunction with other work commitments: “There is much more to it than the meetings that are in the calendar – there are sessions to understand things in more detail, informal members’ sessions and a lot of reading!”
“Being an elected member is a really rewarding experience, it is always the little things that make the biggest difference to people as well,” she adds.
“The times people have stopped to thank me for helping them, it has always been things that might have seemed small in my day but have had a big impact in the life of the person who needed help.”
Having worked with government in her capacity as chief executive of Voluntary Action Shetland, Shetland Central member Catherine Hughson says she first decided to stand in 2017 as she has “always been community minded” and enjoys representing the islands’ interests locally and nationally.
She has since served as vice chair of three committees and became vice convener last year, describing each of those roles as “very rewarding and challenging”.
“With any role you need to be realistic of what you can achieve as a councillor,” Catherine says, with the public sector “ruled by statute and a lot of rules and regulations”, and adding it is important to realise that “like everything in life it has its highs and lows”.
“If you feel you want to support Shetland in what is going to be very challenging but rewarding times ahead you should definitely put your name on the ballot paper, but be aware of the commitment of time,” she says.
One of the younger members of the present intake, Lerwick South member Neil Pearson found it “nerve-wracking” when he decided to stand. But, as a lifelong islander, he was motivated by a love of Shetland’s culture, heritage, industry and people.
“Life changes quite dramatically when you become a councillor,” Neil says. “You are thrown in at the deep end. The election was on a Friday and on the Monday we were invited in for a week-long councillor induction session.
“You almost immediately have a councillor email address, and constituents start getting in touch with you and letting you know their thoughts and feelings on certain issues within Shetland.”
He is full of praise for officers’ support in helping newly elected members to develop their understanding of local government. His advice would be to phone or email the relevant people if you are ever unsure about anything.
“There are limitations on what a councillor can actually do, and there’s a lot of expectations from constituents… but in actual fact a councillor doesn’t normally get involved in operational matters of the council. We’re there to direct the council and to direct policy.
“It’s making sure that you’ve got street lighting, roads, care, schools that open, refuse collection and everything else that goes on in between. It’s about running our day-to-day services.
“You don’t need a degree in politics, all you need to do is have a passion for your community and compassion for your community, and a desire to make positive changes and have a positive influence on your community.”
Shetland Central member Moraig Lyall, who currently chairs the environment and transport committee, first became a member through a by-election in 2019 before retaining her seat in 2022.
She says the latter election was in some ways more difficult because first time around “you’re absolutely fresh” but “by the second time they’ve got something to judge you by”.
“I like getting things done,” Moraig says. “What I most enjoy is when you start with something from scratch, put the plan in place… what you find most frustrating is when you want to get something done and you really don’t see it making any progress.
“I always try to find a consensus with the rest of the councillors as to what I think is best for Shetland, and sometimes that might mean not what’s best for our area, but over the piece we do the right thing for Shetland on most occasions.”
How does she deal with the inevitable criticism that ensues from such a public-facing role? “When criticism is completely off the wall or factually inaccurate, I find it easy to ignore. Occasionally, if you think there’s a grain of truth, that can be a learning experience, reappraise, did I make the right choice there?
“Ultimately, you’re never going to please everybody all the time. You’re going to get some criticism, but hopefully not too much.”
Moraig adds: “There’s not really a wrong person for being on the council, so long as they’ve got the drive and enthusiasm, an ability to interact with other people, a willingness to learn, and some useful information from whatever background you come from.
“I think a good council is made up of a really wide variety of people. You want older folk, younger folk, men, women, people with experience in fishing, agriculture, health, care and education, and then all together you’re covering all the bases.”
Anyone interested in finding out more about putting your name forward to be a candidate in May’s Shetland Islands Council elections can visit www.shetland.gov.uk/stand
