My politics: Councillor Tony Reid

I believe politics provides a mechanism to enable the views and values of people to be understood and a balanced way to address them.

It’s important that the county’s residents understand how the Council conducts its business on their behalf, how funding is derived and help determine how services are prioritised.

As a broader issue, I believe that local government should represent the views and values of residents and not those of a distant national government.

Residents provide 40% of the council’s funding so they should be able to influence 40% of our service delivery at the very least. But right now, their influence only affects 10% at best. So, in short, I will be working to restore local democracy.