What attributes does a councillor need?
You don’t need to have any specific qualifications to be a councillor.
Experience and knowledge gained through employment, raising a family, being a carer for a family member or being an active member of local groups will have equipped you with valuable life skills which will be beneficial in your new role.
If you do happen to have a specific area of knowledge or expertise, this will be of benefit.
It's also important to remember that councillors are expected to represent the diverse communities they serve and all their needs.
Just some of the skills that will help you to fulfil the role:
Decision making
Councillors at all levels will be required to make important decisions so it is important you are able to consider all the evidence before you and make sound judgements that may impact the county and its residents for years to come.
Communication
You'll be expected to communicate with a variety of people including members of the public, fellow councillors and council officers through a variety of mediums. The ability to clearly communicate your own views and those of the people you represent is very important.
IT skills
We're trying to reduce our costs and environmental impact and we live in a digital age where over 90% of adults now use the internet to access services like banking, shopping and communicating. We ask councillors to work digitally as much as possible - including receiving documents electronically. Support is available to help those with less experience of working digitally.
Local knowledge
It's very important to understand the area in which you are standing for election so that you are aware of the facilities, the views of local residents and how the area might be improved.
Confidence
You'll meet new people from a variety of backgrounds and organisations regularly. You'll also be expected to speak in public forums such as Council meetings and external bodies.
Integrity
You'll need to be honest and trustworthy so that the public have confidence that you will do your best to deliver what you have promised, make trusted decisions, and will represent them in a way which reflects their values and ideals. This will sometimes mean you have to manage the expectations of your community and explain why it's not always possible to deliver things in exactly the way people want.
Resilience
Local authorities are facing financial challenges and this sometimes means there are difficult decisions to make about funding the services we provide. These decisions will not always suit everyone - you need to be robust in your decision making and prepared to defend your stance on issues and provide sound and factual reasoning for why the Council has made certain decisions.
Specific knowledge gained through professional, personal or community experience, such as financial management and reporting, legal and governance requirements, health and social care or housing and regeneration will give you valuable insight.
Local government can be quite different to other sectors and you'll be given support and training to help you to fulfil your role.