Cllr Mieka Smiles is the Deputy Mayor and Executive Member for Children’s Services on Middlesbrough Council.
Leaflets are landing on mats, canvassing selfies are plentiful, and the door-knocking is in full swing.
It’s local election time!
And although I know I’ll be part of a very niche minority… I’m loving it.
I believe that elections are won over a term – and that the majority of people will have long decided who they support based on what they have seen delivered on (or not!) in their area over the last four years.
But the sheer physical challenge of getting thousands of pamphlets posted and using your political powers of persuasion on the doors is a bit intoxicating.
Our WhatsApp campaign group is full of screenshots of step counts – the highest so far being about 37,000 in one day – and gossip about our adversaries and their foibles.
We collectively curse low-letter boxes (which should definitely be banned) and spread urban myths of candidates having whole hands bitten off by devil dogs.
We’ve pulled together with a single shared objective; get as many of us elected or re-elected as feasibly possible.
Then there is the ‘cut and thrust’ of warring political parties.
And of course, at times it does get a bit nasty. But the truth is if you’re not prepared for this then being a councillor is really not the role for you.
It’s strange how the big election issues are important but relatively narrow – in Middlesbrough’s case, keeping street lights switched on with a tight council budget, a controversial cycle lane that’s caused a furore amongst residents and business owners alike, and… kids in balaclavas.
The bigger issues are far less clickable: the generational poverty trap, the dire issues facing our high street, and the depressing statistics that Middlesbrough often seems to lead the way with.
But we have made some great progress on those areas over the last four years.
We’re turning around the town centre decline with the help of levelling up cash and we’re now deemed one of the best cities in Europe for investment by the Financial Times.
We’ve also just announced our Mayoral Development Corporation that will see £18m direct investment, hundreds of millions predicted investment and thousands of jobs created in the town.
Back to the task at hand and getting re-elected in my own ward, where potholes and general maintenance are a big problem. So much so I took matters into my own hands and decided to paint some bollards.
Somewhat predictably, this caused delight and outrage in equal measure amongst the opposing party activists.
Lots of discussion from the Labour lot about the appropriateness of this direct action given my clearly dubious painting ability. But the truth is they look great – and the vast majority of residents loved the intervention.
Who knows…I might follow Rod Stewart and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s example and get filling in some potholes. In fact one of my Tory councillor colleagues was one step ahead of A-listers – which resulted in a bit of a telling off from the head of environment for his DIY pothole efforts.
Thankfully, in just two weeks time we will all be able to sit down, rest our feet, and celebrate or commiserate about the final result.
So – whatever your party… Here’s a shout-out to all those pothole posing, leaflet delivering, door knocking councillor candidates. Good luck and godspeed!