Politics is a funny thing. Many parties claim all sorts and seek to be the dominant party.

Independents claim everything, oppose everything and cannot deliver anything, however good as individuals they think they are.

The party with the most seats and with over 50% of the seats is the party in power. At the county this is the Conservatives and is likely to remain that way. The reality is the minority parties have little influence or ability to do very much. Independents have even less impact as appointment to committees is by proportionality to the number of members in a group.

When it comes to influencing the party in power the Lib Dems have struggled and tend to just appose everything. Although the three man Labour group has been much better at understanding how influencing works and have had some minor success. Independents tend to get frustrated and rely on single issues to keep themselves busy.

Practically, Independents, as the name suggests, are not team players. So, why does this matter? Let me give you an example. The A47 upgrade is a big issue for Wisbech. As the Conservative Leader I chose to get two of my hard working fellow Conservatives involved in the A47 collaborative work with Norfolk. This makes sense as they understand the local issues and as part of my group I have trust in them.

If an Independent was elected in Wisbech they would not be part of the A47 work so instantly Wisbech would have lost its voice on that important project. Nobody gains.

It used to be said that an independent can stick up for local people better. That is not true. All that happens is more noise is made and nothing happens. I’m afraid the days of noise and posturing are long gone. Now it is all about action and getting things done within a reducing budget. Independents are not able to get anything done.

Voting for am Independent is a wasted vote, unless it is a hung council of course !!!