Politicians have never been strangers to awkward gaffes, slip-ups and cringeworthy interviews. Especially in the age of social media, where every word our elected representatives say is closely analysed and scrutinised, it can be hard to forget that we’re all human and make the odd error.
Yet, in the video of a leading Reform UK councillor in Nottinghamshire explaining he has “no idea” about key policies, there are bigger questions and issues at play than an awkward slip of the tongue.
In the clip doing the rounds on social media, James Walker-Gurley – a senior cabinet member at Nottinghamshire County Council – awkwardly reads from a script and laughs as he struggles to answer questions about key issues in the county.
As the Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the councillor for Eastwood about his relationship with Claire Ward’s East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) and major works on a roundabout, he admitted he did not know how or what to answer.
Now, you might hear the councillor’s response and think that it’s a well-needed breath of fresh air. An unlikely response from a politician, perhaps, given we’ve become accustomed to party spokespeople who repeat the same press lines and avoid the big questions.
You wouldn’t be alone in thinking that of Reform UK’s recently elected politicians. Since their sweeping victory to the council in the May local elections, the new intake haven’t shied away from admitting when they don’t have the answers.
When the now-council leader Mick Barton was elected into the role later that month, reporters queued up at the announcement press call to ask him questions about what we can be expected from the new administration and what changes we might see in Nottinghamshire in the next few years.
All reporters appeared to be met with similar lines of ‘we don’t have the answers yet’ and ‘we’ve only been recently elected’ – and fair enough. Why should a party who haven’t even been in charge for a week have all the answers?
It was, I felt, indeed a breath of fresh air, and gave some weight to the promises of ‘common-sense’ and ‘no-nonsense’ language made by Reform UK during their election campaign.
And as the weeks went on, we heard similar comments from Barton and his 40-strong group of new councillors. Similar lines about needing to get feet under the table were dished out – again, it made a nice change.
Yet, as the group now approaches nearly two months in office, following a long election campaign and plenty of time to get to grips with the fundamentals of local politics, the ‘we don’t have the answers yet’ argument is at risk of wearing thin.
The aforementioned video where Walker-Gurley – whose brief covers economic development and asset management at the council – couldn’t answer a question about a major repair project to a roundabout in the county feels somewhat like a boiling point.
The admission the politician makes regarding the lack of contact between himself and the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), only adds to the sense that people are going to get fed up and demanding proper answers soon.
Like his cabinet counterparts, the Eastwood representative earns £40,000 when including his allowance as a ward councillor. On that salary, is there not a basic level of understanding and briefing we can expect our elected representatives to have?
Reform UK’s main pledge throughout the local election campaign was to change the way our council’s up and down the country are ran.
Yet, if almost two months in, senior representatives can’t answer basic questions about key projects, it might not be change that’s needed at this moment – but rather new ideas and proper briefing.
If those at the top of the County Council don’t begin to present fresh ideas and start to – at the very least – raise the questions and begin to debate them, let alone begin exploring the solutions, the patience of everyone who leant the party their support in May will grow thin.
The argument of Reform being a new group in charge will only stretch so far and soon, people will start to expect real answers and ideas, rather than more “don’t knows”.
The video of Councillor Walker-Gurley struggling to answer these questions may just seem like another political gaffe or awkward interview – but it may be a turning point in which voters start to demand real answers.
