Independents Day

How will Covid-activism impact local elections?

With the postponement of many local elections to 2021 due to Covid-19, there is an unprecedented amount of seats up for grabs. At the same time, as the pandemic took hold local groups around the country stepped up and found collaborative ways of solving the problems faced by their communities, often without any help from their councils. In response to this shift the Flatpack 2021 campaign has been launched with a focus turning people power into political impact.

“I’ve been doing local politics for a long time – this truly feels like something new.” – Peter Macfadyen, Flatpack founder and former Mayor of Frome.

Founded to create ambitious, community-led councils that remove the restrictions created by the bureaucratic structures of the party machine, the Flatpack Democracy campaign provides help and resources to all independent groups who believe that their council should be run “by the community, for the community.”

Since 2014, we’ve seen Flatpack turn from a “handful of disgruntled people in the pub who took over their local town grow into a burgeoning nation-wide movement,” Peter explains. With their support, the Flatpack founder and former Mayor of Frome argues we will witness “a new generation of independents winning seats in the upcoming council elections in May 2021.”

“We want to help people reclaim their councils from party politicians and put real people back in control. This is the perfect time; during the Covid-19 crisis communities have come together like never before, forming mutual-aid networks to support themselves. Many of these community groups have found their local council difficult to work with, and are now asking ‘why not run it ourselves?’” – Lollie Melton, organiser, Flatpack 2021.

The Flatpack Democracy movement started in Frome, Somerset, in 2011 when a group of residents, frustrated with political squabbling and vested interests, launched a successful campaign to take over their local council. For the last decade, Independents for Frome has successfully run the town council exclusively for the benefit of the local community, launching and delivering a string of initiatives aimed at accelerating the social, ecological and political regeneration of the local area. In 2015, Frome was named Council of the Year.

The movement was further boosted by publication in 2014 of the book Flatpack Democracy, and today around 50 towns and parishes from the South-West to the North of England are now run by groups of independents working together for the benefit of their communities.

“I wrote Flatpack Democracy so that the residents of any town, parish or district could come together and use the book as a guide to take over their council. I firmly believe that we have a dysfunctional political system. Many politicians are making decisions to meet their own needs or those of their party, not the needs of the people they serve. We need to build democracy from the bottom up and my book provides a simple guide as to how to do it," says Peter.

As the pandemic took hold, local groups around the country stepped up and found collaborative ways of solving the problems faced by their communities, often without any help from their councils. Being there on the ground meant that such groups were able to rapidly identify the needs of local people and address them quickly and effectively, whereas the commitment to observing party-politics often made responding to the fast-moving situation a slower and more cumbersome process for party-controlled local councils.

With the postponement of many local elections to 2021, many community groups and individuals are recognising an opportunity to free themselves from the inefficiency, incompetence and ideology associated with national party politics, and are putting themselves forward for election as groups of independents. They have asked: ‘Why do we need party politicians to tell us what we need, when we know already?’ and realised that they have the will and resources to provide it themselves.

The revolution starts here!

Do you feel your local council has let you down? Would you like to see local people, creating an effective ambitious council that works with you to do what's best for your community?

For anyone who can answer ‘yes’ to the above, the Flatpack 2021 website offers an online self-test to establish whether they have a route to taking back control at the local level, and shares how Flatpack 2021 can help them do so.

As Peter says, ‘There’s really nothing to stop you getting organised and taking over the council where you live. So why not do it?’

flatpack2021.co.uk

instagram.com/flatpackdemocracy