Bourne Comment

A NEW MAYOR BUT BUSINESS AS USUAL

We have a new Mayor of Bourne who, like his predecessors for the past forty years, hopes to make his mark and put the town to rights whereas past experience suggests that when his term of office ends in twelve months’ time nothing much will have changed.

Such expectation should not be dismissed lightly because it demonstrates that there is room for improvement even in the best ordered societies but history is not on his side in that change is slow and not always sure and so he may well be tilting at windmills.

This is the town’s 43rd mayor since the office was inaugurated in 1974, a traditional appointment and although the title is mainly ornamental today it does confer a status on those elected as being considered worthy of the office by their fellow councillors and of being a suitable person to represent the town on formal occasions.

One of my first assignments as a young reporter sixty years ago was to interview the retiring Mayor of Peterborough who had earned his honour with more than four decades of unstinting service to the city council and when I asked how his year in office had gone, he replied: "It was like being king for a day". His assessment sums up the unreality of a situation in which you are suddenly thrust into the limelight by being given a job where you are feted like royalty but one that has no official parameters other than to be seen and heard.

The office of mayor is largely governed by the Local Government Act of 1933 that required the council of every borough to make it their first duty at each annual meeting to elect a mayor who normally holds office for one year but may be re-elected. There have been changes since, consistent with the various re-organisations of local government, and so the title of mayor is now usually reserved for the head of an urban administration, one that has been granted district or borough status by royal charter, or a town mayor that has been granted special dispensation by government such as here in Bourne.

The system is different in the United States where the mayor is the elected head of a city or town and in 1999, the Labour government floated proposals for directly-elected mayors in Britain, a method that has since been adopted by some of the larger metropolitan authorities, notably London. It is unlikely that small towns such as Bourne will ever get a directly elected mayor and so the present arrangement will remain with us for the foreseeable future.

As our mayoralty dates back only 40 years, Bourne is therefore a newcomer to the system. From 1899, the town was administered by Bourne Urban District Council which had a chairman but under the local government re-organisation of 1974, all urban authorities in England were replaced by district councils and from then on, Bourne's affairs came under the control of South Kesteven District Council based in Grantham. The town however, retained a parish council which, because of its historic status, was given permission to become a town council with a chairman who is also the mayor, and this authority took over the Coat of Arms and civic regalia previously enshrined in Bourne UDC. Our first citizen, therefore, is actually the chairman of the parish council but by recent tradition, is elected as town mayor by his peers.

Apart from taking the chair at council meetings, the mayoral duties are decorative rather than practical and extend to attending public functions as a representative of the town council, garden fetes, concerts, dinners, coffee mornings, and the like, and therefore involve a constant round of glad-handing, culminating with the Civic Ball at the end of their term when those who have been of help during the year are thanked personally for their support.

The office is exemplified by the silver chain of office he or she wears during their tenure and is achieved through seniority rather than merit, a system that has often been referred to disparagingly as “Buggins’ turn”, a protocol outlined in the council’s standing orders, that the post is offered to serving councillors by rotation on a basis of the total number of years of continuous service with the authority and as council seats are liable to change and some members do not wish to stand, it is possible to become mayor in a very short space of time after joining the council, even during their first four-year term. Thereafter, a second spell in office is equally possible as has happened to eight councillors in Bourne since 1974 while former councillor, Mrs Shirley Cliffe, who did not stand at the local government elections this year, set a new record by serving as mayor three times.

What then can we expect from our mayors in the future? The answer is very little apart from a high public profile and there is little wrong with that. All organisations need a figurehead and although it achieves little, the chain of office does symbolise a dignity and a civic pride in our town and for that reason alone, it is worth keeping.

Those elected, however, do tend to become euphoric on the occasion of their installation when looking forward to the year ahead and one councillor after being so elevated promised those gathered “to put Bourne on the map” although when his term ended, the status of this town was no more and no less than it was when he took office although he did preserve the status quo.

Our new mayor is Councillor Philip Knowles, a Lancastrian, now retired, who has lived here since 1991 and has been a member of the town council since being elected for Bourne East in 2011 when he polled 817 votes although during the town council elections this year he was returned unopposed because there were insufficient candidates for a contest. Nevertheless, he was named as mayor elect before the last council disbanded and this pledge has now been honoured.

True to form he sees the year ahead from the mayoral chair as a challenge but one that according to The Local newspaper, will take the town into a new era. “I shall seek to get more people have a sense of pride in Bourne and to encourage ways of demonstrating that community spirit”, he told the newspaper (May 22nd). “It is about making Bourne feel that little bit more pleasant. It is a lovely place to live. With a little bit of effort we can make it that little bit better.”

The problem is that most of us are already proud to be living in Bourne and would not want to be anywhere else and although the mayor’s message has popular appeal, officers of the town’s many voluntary societies and associations who constantly seek new members to help keep them afloat will attest that few answer the rallying call and even fewer are to be found when charitable or unpaid work needs to be done. Seek someone for a Saturday afternoon duty at the Heritage Centre in South Street or to help litter pick around the town centre prior to the annual visit of the judges in the East Midlands in Bloom competition and there will not be a ready response although these tasks do get done in the end by the usual band of volunteers. Our community therefore depends on a dedicated minority to keep these worthy endeavours on track and although those who do participate have a loyalty and commitment to their cause, the shortfall of support will always be with us.

We should not forget that the new mayor is also a volunteer and that in the months ahead he may well encounter a taste of that public apathy that has already resulted in only ten of the required fifteen councillors being returned because there were insufficient nominations. But perhaps he is on the right path in suggesting that a new feeling may be abroad because thirteen people have now put their names forward to fill the vacancies and the first job facing him and his colleagues will be to interview them and co-opt the five best candidates and if they all have his zeal in wishing to give Bourne a brighter future, we cannot possibly fail.

Certainly this enthusiasm should be an inspiration, particularly for the younger generation. The office of Mayor of Bourne is a sign of achievement of effort in local affairs and one that is within the reach of everyone if they feel sufficiently dedicated to help their community by becoming a member of the town council. Remember the story of Dick Whittington, the poor orphan boy who hiked to London to seek his fortune and became four times Lord Mayor, a folk tale based on the life of the 14th century politician Richard Whittington. Even in Bourne, the opportunity for high office is open to all and if those who fill it can inspire others, then so much the better.

Note: This article was published by the Bourne web site on 30th May 2015.