Last Saturday, almost 100 local people attended our Open Manifesto meeting, which I hosted with Coun. Peter Jackson, Leader of Northumberland Conservatives.
The day meant that residents of the Hexham constituency have had direct input into the Conservative manifesto for the next local elections to Northumberland County Council.
We decided to throw our manifesto for the next local elections open to local people. I am personally delighted that so many people have given up their Saturday to discuss new ideas for how our council can better serve local people.
I am always keen to see innovation in the way we do politics and crowdsourcing our manifesto was a good experiment in opening up politics to local people.
Coun. Peter Jackson said, “The idea behind our Open Manifesto is to bring local residents together to talk about what they want from their Council. The result has been lots of new, and often radical, ideas about how the council can deliver better services at a lower cost. The benefit of engaging directly with local people is that it generates new ideas from those who are most affected by the council’s performance. The whole event was a great success and everyone appreciated having their voices heard."
I am always keen to hear your ideas and thoughts , do email me at hexham@tory.org or let me know on facebook
