The right person, not the right party.

With the prospect of local elections on Thursday I'd like to bang on another one of my drums.

What place does party politics have in local government? What does it add to what we end up with?

You'll probably guess that I think the answers to those questions are a) none and b) nothing. I think party politics represents a massive, costly and irrelevant distraction to the business of running a town, borough, county or city. We have MPs whom we elect on party lines, understandably, as that election goes towards deciding which set of ideals and policies the nation has chosen to dictate how it is run over the next few years.

But those are largely, if not totally, irrelevant when you're talking about your worries about that dangerous crossing outside your children's primary school, the ugliness of the new street lamps in the park replacing the old Victorian ones, or the fact that fortnightly rubbish collections are a health hazard when the sun shines.

Party politics is lazy electoral shorthand to which we all subscribe. I vote Labour/Liberal/Conservative and therefore I bin, without reading, all the other leaflets as they come through the door and then go out like an obedient sheep on Thursday and put my cross in the appropriate box. I may not even read the leaflet from my chosen candidate - why should I? I know who I'm going to vote for. The candidates don't even have to have any convictions. They don't have to DO anything, because, unless they mess up spectacularly, voters will choose them or fail to choose them according to decisions made in Westminster.

Local politics is where ambitious young politicians cut their teeth. It is in the main a proving ground for tomorrows MPs and MEPs, somewhere they can be spotted and elevated to considerations for Westminster. In the same way as many local journalists are working hard to be spotted for BBC or ITN, young politicians are aiming at somewhere a long way away from their council wards. There are some who are committed to their local area, of course, and they must be utterly frustrated by the status quo.

In fact the party political element of the council inhibits its efficient running. In Bristol, my home town, the council is more often than labelled as "no overall control". The councillors squabble like children, largely unaware of the appalling impression they're making to their electorate. The Conservatives shout a lot and get people on their side so that Labour initiatives don't get through; the Labour concillors get in a huddle and complain that the Liberals aren't talking to them; the Liberals sulk and turn their back on everybody. And all this on issues which matter to the voters and have nothing to do with what's happening nationally.

If it were up to me I'd ban all overt political affiliation in council elections and get everybody to compete as individuals with reference to local issues. They'd have to work harder and we'd have to work harder to select our preferred candidate. The council would have to work harder to sort things out with reasoned and issue-based debate, and the work of our MPs would continue without distractions because parties of dignitaries would no longer need to be shipped out to bolster support in 'marginal' councils and wards.

If Dave would like to give me a call, I'll help him organise the change. But they why would they, when the status quo is so lazily convenient for them, if not for us?