Some jokes write themselves...

[DanaC]

*nods* yah. I am an elected member of a borough council. Certain local governance is devolved to local councils, though it is heavily fenced in by government mandates. We have responsibility to deliver local services (or in the case of education 'commission' local services) and manage local matters like waste collection/recycling, traffic calming measures, local bye laws, licensing gaming establishments/clubs/taxi cabs etc. Planning decisions also are localised. Most of what we do is laid down quite precisely. Certain of our funding is ring-fenced by law to particular services. We collect a local tax (Council Tax) which is based on property bands and which in theory pays for local services. Most funding actually comes in payments and subsidies from central government, and that is based on our performance indicators.

There are different types of local government and sometimes they co-exist somewhat uneasily. So, for instance my borough is a unitary authority: one authority oversees the main running of the entire borough; however, below that level we still have the vestigial Parish councils in at least three of our towns.

It gets complicated :P

Earnings are very different :P But then it is intended that people are able to be councillors whilst still working full time. My allowance annually for being a councillor is £9k before tax. There is a minimal expenses system to cover additional out of borough expenses, such as attending conferences out of town.

The voting system is very similar to the national parliamentary elections. First past the post. But there tends to be more variance in terms of additional parties. The big difference though is in scale and levels of responsiblity. As a councillor I and 2 other colleagues between us represent a ward of c6000 people to a council which is not very powerful. An MP represnts a consituency of around 60,000 in Parliament, which is the centre of power.