ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by discussing some academic research into councillor activity suggesting that traditional ‘elitist’ explanations are no longer applicable in an environment where a wide range of actors and interest groups are engaged in the local government policy process. It argues that some of the new forms of relations with the private sector agencies, in this environment, have had an important impact on the role of councillors in local government. The chapter focuses on the period following the May 1994 local government elections. It examines two important sites of tension; divisions within the ruling Labour Group and the establishment of new public-private sector partnership arrangements. The interviews highlight the anxiety and frustration that was felt by councillors operating within the changing environment. The impact of economic, political and demographic changes has affected elected councillors in a number of diverse and complex ways.
