5.2 Balancing your roles and responsibilities

All these roles and responsibilities mean that being a councillor is not only demanding but also deeply impactful. The roles can be complementary but may also occasionally conflict with each other at times.

As community leaders democratically elected by people in the ward, it is natural for councillors to scrutinise how a policy or decision would affect that ward when sitting on a policy development or decision-making committee. Done properly, a councillor may be able to influence changes to proposed policies or the implementation of the policies that are better for individuals and communities in that ward. This can be a strength of local democracy, where the community leadership, scrutiny, strategy and policy development and decision-making roles work together to bring a better outcome for people and communities.

However, councillors are expected to take a decision in the best interests of people across the whole council area and not just people in their ward. The reason for this is simple: if all councillors simply advocated and voted for what was best for their ward or a few vocal individuals, it could be very difficult to develop and agree on effective strategies and policies that use the council’s powers, duties and resources effectively – ultimately resulting in poorer services for everyone.

If elected, you will need to learn to navigate these tensions and find a balance between the various roles and responsibilities.