Four out of five Limburgers see the same picture when they think of the ideal councilor for their city council.
The most important core values for such a councilor are reliability, experience and the right political party, according to a survey commissioned by L1. Political scientist Nico Baakman, who was associated with Maastricht University for many years until his recent retirement, calls the profile ‘not shocking’.
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Ideal councilor
Nearly four in five respondents indicated that these values are important or even very important in their choice of vote (79.7 percent). The survey was conducted by research agency Flycatcher among more than 500 Limburgers aged 18 and older.
“Making considerations and decisions openly and honestly in the interest of the population”, says one of the research participants about his ideal image. The majority of Limburgers agree with this. Concepts such as ‘advocacy’ and ‘transparency’ are frequently discussed when questions are asked about the expectations of council members.
Trustworthy
‘The right political party’ and ‘experience’ are terms that are often mentioned. But what does that mean, reliability? According to political scientist Baakman, political missteps cause a bad image and therefore lower reliability. He mentions the allowance affair as an example: “Then people think, ‘Oh, the government works like that. It’s great’. Those kinds of things don’t help the political image at all.”
In addition, we don’t like it when things are turned around, says the political scientist. “Unfortunately, it is typical of most politicians, regardless of party, to do that.” Baakman believes that voters appreciate it if there is a clear explanation for (unexpected) choices. “They know that you sometimes have to compromise and make compromises, but then they like to hear directly: ‘the money is not there’ or ‘a majority was against’.”
united
Is the ideal picture ‘ideal’ for every Limburger? Both men and women can identify with the portrayal of the perfect municipal politician, the survey shows. Also when it comes to region, many provincial authorities agree which values belong to the ideal councilor.
What is less important? At the bottom of the wish list is the councilor’s gender, whether the candidate is related to or known to the voter, and his or her public notoriety. Political scientist Baakman emphasizes that most voters are not familiar with the council members. “Only sometimes the leader, but often not even that. A shame, because you would want representatives of the people to be known to the voters.” That would ensure that they can do their job better.
Central Limburg
However, the ideal profile in Central Limburg looks a bit different. In addition to reliability and experience, it is also about approachability, according to 79.8 percent of the residents. For example, a woman indicates that ‘involvement in the neighbourhood’ is important to her.
feelers
This could go hand in hand with the great popularity of local parties in this region. 62.5 percent of Central Limburgers say they will vote for a local party. The situation is different in North and South Limburg. There, 35.9 and 36.5 percent vote for a local party, respectively. “Parties with local roots often have feelers for the problems in the municipality,” says Baakman. “That could be of great importance.”
Also read: Most local parties on ballot paper in Limburg