I am standing as a candidate in Bristol City Council's election

[nxylas]

I will be the Wessex Regionalist candidate for Eastville ward. Please feel free to send good vibes my way.

[shenmue]

1. Mazel tov!

[nxylas]

2. Thanks n/t

[LeftishBrit]

3. Good luck!

What is your party platform?

[nxylas]

4. You can see my campaign website here

http://wr4eastville.weebly.com

There's a link to the main party website for further information.

[Ken Burch]

5. Good luck.

(On a totally unrelated note) Your icon(which takes on a somewhat different meaning in the context of this question, obviously)is an Orthodox cross. Is that your actual spiritual home? If so, Greek, Russian, or some other national communion?

And are you ok with us calling you by your first name, now that we know what it is?

[nxylas]

6. Yes and yes

I was baptised into the Greek Orthodox Church, though having been born in England, my true spiritual home is the distinctively English Orthodoxy of people like Fr Andrew Phillips and (although he is American) Heiromonk Aidan Keller.

And I can't remember why I didn't use my full name as my DU name. I think it's just that some internet forums don't allow spaces in screen names, so I kind of got into the habit of using my first initial followed by my surname.

[LeftishBrit]

7. Is there any association with Thomas Hardy's Wessex novels; or just that you both come from the same

area?

[nxylas]

8. Hardy is widely credited with reviving the name Wessex

Although his contribution is perhaps overstated, as there are examples of its being used to describe the present-day area, rather than the Anglo-Saxon kingdom, that predate him. William Barnes and Charles Kingsley both used it in that context before Hardy's first use of the name.

[Bad Dog]

9. It seems quite parochial.

Then again, it is the city council, but where do you stand on bread and butter issues like social housing, public transport, free school meals, that sort of thing?

[nxylas]

18. I think there's a pretty comprehensive list of policies on the main website

For the mini-manifesto, I tried to tie everything back to the main policy of an assembly for Wessex, and decentralisation in general, as that's what sets us apart from other parties. I remember during the last mayoral election, there were a lot of leaflets from other small party and independent candidates, all saying more or less the same things about the issues you mention. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you have to imagineer the narrative, as Stewart Pearson would say.

[Bad Dog]

20. It would be nice to know

where you stand. I think a Wessex Assembly is pretty low on most people's list of priorities.

[nxylas]

22. For more affordable housing and free school meals

I specifically mention public transport on my campaign site. I think there's substantial agreement about these issues from most candidates, which is why I didn't devote a lot of space to them.

[Bad Dog]

23. That's what people want their councillors to talk about.

[nxylas]

24. I've been a bit lax about blogging

I intend to blog more as the campaign progresses, and will try to talk about a wider range of issues. Bear in mind that I've never run for office before, so I'm learning on the job.

[Bad Dog]

25. Stick to what can be done.

Like fixing the pot hole at the end of the road. You can't be local enough.

[nxylas]

27. That's true of *elected* councillors

I'm still not entirely convinced that it's something to build a campaign around. After all, can you imagine anyone arguing that the pothole should stay? I think it's taken as a given that potholes and broken streetlights fall within the remit of a councillor, whoever gets elected. Elections are supposed to highlight the differences between the candidates.

[Bad Dog]

28. If someone is having problems with the council.

You're going to want to be the one they want to contact.

[T_i_B]

10. Pardon me for asking...

But what's meant on the party website by "restoring sovereign power to the Parishes"?

I'd ask about Bristol as well, but I'm sure you can fill us in on the elected mayor, the Bag O'Cats (a pub I really want to visit) and the chances of Bristol Rugby Club choking in the playoffs for the umpteenth time!

[nxylas]

19. It means that parish and town councils shouldn't just be rubber stamps for Westminster

It doesn't mean that each parish should be a sovereign nation, with its own army and currency. It just means that they should have enough power to be able to stand up to higher levels of government when they try to impose decisions on them against the will of the community.

[T_i_B]

26. But can that happen....

Last edited Sat Apr 9, 2016, 05:38 AM - Edit history (1)

....without a major change in attitude from ministers in government? I can't speak for the rest of the country, but where I am local politics has become increasingly dominated by the whims of Gideon Osbourne and company. Most notably with the whole "Northern Powerhouse" bumph, which is looking more and more like a total dog's breakfast.

There's also the whole matter of how powers are divvied up between County Councils and smaller councils to consider as well.

[Bad Dog]

11. What about Academies?

For or against? Is it giving power to individual schools or centralising power with no local accountability?

I know what I think.

[T_i_B]

12. Can local councillors do much to stop Acadamies being imposed?

I'm not sure that they can do much about the current wave of Academisation.

Although a far greater gripe for me is council candidates who prattle on about immigration. Not an issue that your local town council is able to resolve so what's the point?

[Bad Dog]

13. If LAs oppose acadamisation across the board it could put the government on the back foot.

It is a subject that someone running for council should have an answer to. I live in Wessex so I do have an interest. I can't see me voting anything other than Labour mind you.

[T_i_B]

14. I can see the difficulties in that....

...even getting neighbouring Labour councils to work together to oppose it might be a challenge. The current academization is a nationwide problem and I would suggest needs a nationwide campaign to oppose it.

[Bad Dog]

15. Yes, though but

it's the Local Authorities who are the ones affected. Even some Tory councils are against it.

[T_i_B]

16. Ultimately it's the pupils who are affected most

[Bad Dog]

17. Well yes.

I'm not going to argue with that.

[nxylas]

21. The second one

Coincidencentally, I just added a paragraph about academies to the website a couple of days ago. Like many things this government does, it's ostensibly based on principles that I instinctively support, but I don't trust it, because it's the Tories. There will be much talk in public about restoring power to parents, and much manoeuvring behind the scenes to allow Dave's chums from Eton, Oxford and the Dead Pigs Society to make a fat profit off them.