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Anne Gregory

Why central and local government matter

  1. The term ‘lobbying’ has been the subject of many headlines recently, causing the conduct of people associated with or in public office to come under considerable scrutiny.

  2. While the sometimes questionable activities of members of parliament (MPs) and others who are close to the corridors of power have attracted a great deal of media attention, it would be wrong for the negative elements of this coverage to completely blur our expectations and respect for our system of democracy and government.

  3. People working in the public service, be they officials, members of parliament or councilors, do endeavour to serve the needs of the electorate and local constituents.

  4. Theywill obviously have affiliations and aspirations which need to be considered part of their own ‘manifesto’ (be it personal or political), but many will have entered public life because they want to make a contribution to the welfare of the community at a national or local level. It is those in possession of this ‘power’ who most frequently need to be the focus of public affairs campaigning.