As a democratically elected local representative, you have a unique and privileged position, and the potential to make a real difference to people’s lives.

As a Councillor you play a number of different roles: representing your local community, developing strategies and policies to shape the local area and how services are delivered, providing community leadership to deliver those strategies and policies and making day-to-day decisions on a variety of things including planning, licensing and a whole host of other matters. 

We will support you in all of these roles and there is some useful information on the Local Government Association website (The role of a councillor | Local Government Association). 

A councillor’s primary role is to represent their ward or division and the people who live in it. Councillors provide a bridge between the community and the council. As well as being an advocate for local residents and signposting them to the right people at the council, you will need to keep them informed about the issues that affect them.

In order to understand and represent local views and priorities, you need to build strong relationships and encourage local people to make their views known and engage with you and the council.

• respond to their queries and investigate their concerns (casework)
• communicate council decisions that affect them
• know your patch and be aware of any problems
• know and work with representatives of local organisations, interest groups and businesses
• represent their views at council meetings
• lead local campaigns on their behalf
• act and conduct yourself in a manner that is appropriate for your role.