Why I changed my mind about become a councillor

Charli Thompson on life as Barnet’s first elected Green representative

Green councillor Charli Thompson

I’ve spent years as a campaigner and I’ve witnessed first-hand how local government is often much better at managing problems than preventing them. When people asked whether I’d ever become a councillor, I’d always say “I’ll never be one of them!”

But that answer came from a place of deep frustration. Eventually I reached a point where I realised that unless different people step forward, nothing is going to change.

So I did.

Then this year’s election happened. Barnet now has 31 Labour councillors, 31 Conservatives and one Green. Me.

I think that result says something important. Residents didn’t hand either of the two biggest parties a clear mandate. After years of two-party politics, people voted for a council where no one can really claim to have won the argument. That puts Barnet in a unique position and gives us a real opportunity. The question is: What are we going to do with it?

During the election campaign, Labour and the Conservatives spent weeks explaining why the other couldn’t be trusted to run Barnet. Yet once the election was over, they suddenly got remarkably friendly to avoid working with the lone Green. I think that’s because they would rather stick with what’s familiar and carry on as they always have. But that’s not what people voted for.

People keep asking what it’s like holding the balance of power, but I don’t really see it quite like that. I don’t want to spend the next four years doing keepy uppys with the political football bouncing between two parties.

I’ve never been interested in party politics with a big ‘P’. I’m interested in how policy can improve people’s lives and protect our planet. What drew me to the Greens was their willingness to challenge systems that aren’t working and question assumptions that all the other parties seem to just accept. I don’t have a party whip telling me how to vote, so I’m able to make decisions that represent my values and those of my community.

And key to that is asking whether we’re willing to treat the underlying sickness rather than simply manage the symptoms.

A few years ago, I brought a deputation to the council with a group of local activists on adult social care, the biggest area of spending for every council and an issue I’ve spent years researching and campaigning on. As a disabled person and an advocate for my autistic sister who lives in supported living, I was simply trying to raise what I thought were important questions and asking the council to do the same.

What I was met with was some of the most disturbing behaviour I’ve ever witnessed, given the seriousness of the issues we were raising.

I was heckled. Councillors chatted and laughed amongst themselves. The council leader became defensive because we dared to question the way things were being done. I remember thinking, if this is how members of the public are treated when they come to engage with the council, no wonder so many people lose faith in local democracy.

That experience stayed with me and helped ignite my determination to be part of the change local government desperately needs. The decisions of our council arguably have more impact on our day-to-day lives than national politics, yet local elections often attract little more than a third of eligible voters, compared with around two-thirds at a general election.

I think that’s a huge missed opportunity. If we want better local government, we need more people to understand how it works, challenge it, and perhaps become the councillors of tomorrow.

Over the years I’ve met some extraordinary people across Barnet: Parents who’ve become experts in SEND because they’ve had to fight for their children; disabled people and carers who understand social care inside out because they’ve had to navigate it themselves; residents who’ve spent years analysing how planning and budgets work simply because they care, conservationists stewarding our land and protecting nature, unionised workers standing up for decent pay and conditions and educating the public on how public services really work.

That’s why I see my role as a simple one. To ask the difficult questions, support good ideas and challenge bad ones, whoever proposes them. But more than that, to represent the people who don’t have a seat in the chamber. I’m not here to speak for myself. I’m here to make sure community voices, experiences, and expertise are heard, especially when they’re inconvenient.

Years ago, I used to say I’d never become ‘one of them’. The truth is, I don’t think I have. My seat in the council chamber might have changed, but why I’m here and who I stand with has not.

Charli Thompson is Green councillor for Woodhouse ward

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