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Local body elections are coming up, and for most people they will go unnoticed. For many, who they vote into local office comes down to name recognition, rather than any great understanding of personality, promises, and performance.

Take Dunedin for example: despite an apparent groundswell against the current mayor and a number of councillors, how many of the other candidates can you name?
The Auckland mayoralty race features prominently in our national news, as you would expect for ratings-based programming. But just because Dunedin is smaller doesn’t mean people shouldn’t know the alternatives. Wellington, a bigger city, has a similar lack of knowledge of alternative candidates to the incumbent.
Cities where we do know alternatives come down to Invercargill (celebrities) and Christchurch (National Politics party leader). This probably arises from the general political apathy, and as local government is less powerful than national government, there is less to lose, and people don’t pay attention. Unfortunately local government does have a big impact: without clear planning our urban centres do not develop in a sustainable way; local government also delivers essential services and controls rates. Dunedin is facing a rates increase of 50 percent (which will be passed on to students), and if people don’t know who they are voting for, how can they say that this is not what they want?
The active involvement of political parties in local government may create greater awareness. It may also ensure that voters are more aware of what each candidate stands for, at least in an abstract way. Without the backing of a political party, most voters wouldn’t know which candidate to vote for in their electorate. Party support helps indicate the kind of things a candidate is likely to do and the philosophy with which they approach their job.
Involvement in local body politics also gives party volunteers something to do in the off-season, and may help to develop political skills in a sort of test run at low-level government. However, less desirable for the parties themselves, is that parties find it difficult to keep all their MPs in check, and often have to deal with the fallout from ill-advised remarks, or questionable moral character. Casting their responsibility wider to cover the caricatures of local government is probably a risk that may not pay off. Conflicts between local and central government could also be exacerbated if key people come from opposing parties. Political party involvement may give some clarity, but probably at the expense of the advocacy and representation mayors and councillors should engage in. Political philosophy may be less at home in local politics, where pragmatism both in creating council majorities and providing effective, low cost services to residents is more important than blind ideology.