This blog was set up in 2014, after the local election where Ellie Robinson, Seyi Akiwowo, and I were elected for Forest Gate North. We had been discussing ways of communicating our work, ways of explaining in a bit more detail some of the decisions that the Council made, and how to respond to a growing number of our residents who are and were online and actively seeking more democratic accountability there.
Sadly since then Ellie has left local politics in order to work for Sadiq Khan; Forest Gate’s loss is London’s gain! And Seyi decided to step down before the 2018 election, making a move away from being a councillor to put more time into her campaigning work. I want to carry on with the blog, however, and keep using it as we first intended: as a way of being accountable.
I try to publish on it a variety of posts, including:
– information about meetings I attend
– details about common queries I receive
– pictures from events in the ward
– updates into pieces of work I am involved in, often including problems my colleagues and I are trying to help solve or improve
– the three-monthly ward reports that we write and submit to the local Labour party members of Forest Gate North ward
– an insight into some of my day-to-day work
…. and anything else that I think might be interesting.
So in a nutshell, what you can expect here is a regular, sometimes informal, insight into councillor work. It can be hard to understand exactly what local government does, and we hope this blog will provide a little bit of help there. And that it will be a good read.
Please get in touch and let me know whether you think I’ve succeeded in this or not.
I’m going to keep this blog under review, and will do a regular check to see whether it’s useful, and succeeding in our initial aim of helping to keep residents informed, and whether it’s good use of our time. If I find it’s becoming neglected, either by me or by potential readers, then I may well revisit the whole idea and change it, or even leave it entirely. If I do this, I will leave a message on the URL for a reasonable period of time to tell you that’s what I’ve done.
Disclaimer
This is a personal blog written by Rachel Tripp and Seyi Akiwowo, and the views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Labour party, or of Newham Council.
Forest Gate North - Rachel Tripp's councillor blog 