IN moves which smack of desperation, some councils around the country have been going to all sorts of lengths attempting to persuade voters to place their cross in local council elections. Posters, advertisements on buses, even pretty flower beds with the blooms spelling out the message have all been deployed.

Turn out is notoriously low for council elections and it is a shame that we appear to hold our local democracy in such low esteem. Odd then that people who don't even know who their local councillor is should insist that "the council should do something" when it suits them.

The votes were being totted up as the Herald was published last night but it's a fair bet that Craven folk weren't exactly knocking over the polling booths in their rush to vote. Who can blame them given a poor example set by some of our political parties. Seats they held were given up without even a fight. It used to be said that Labour could put up a donkey with a red rose to win the Skipton East seat but it seems that this year New Labour couldn't even find a donkey!

Alas, parties are finding it harder and harder to attract candidates, particularly young ones, to stand for the council. Those in work find increasing demands on their loyalties and time with little spare energy to devote to public service.

The time has come for our elected local representatives to be paid. At the turn of the century MPs received no remuneration, with the result that Parliament was the exclusive preserve of the wealthy and the idle rich, the working man excluded from following a career in politics as he had no prospect of income.

These days the council chamber imposes increasing demands, growing paper work and documents and expectations of a better service using less resources. It is time to attract talented managers from the private sector to do a job rather than well meaning amateurs juggling with complex policies in their spare time.

If Parliament is important enough to have salaried MPs, then so too is the council chamber.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.