Ed Surridge Independent Candidate for Brighstone, Calbourne & Shalfleet Council District
Most candidates ask for your vote and then decide how to spend your public money themselves. I’m asking for something different, let the community decide.
If elected, I will give my full councillor’s annual allowance of approximately £10,800 to the local assembly for them to spend on local priorities. Over the 4 year electoral cycle that totals approximately £43,200.
With Citizens Jury’s or Assemblies everyone doesn’t vote on everything.
Volunteers are recruited and treated generously but not to generously.
They are chosen at random in a first round for both on and offline assemblies that work together. Small adjustments are made with a second round to balance represention if it’s found wanting.
Equality is as good as can be with the very basic 50/50 men and women the starting point.
We get to know each other a little bit of we don’t already.
We think things through, checking the very varied expert opinion.
We listening to and debating with each other before making assembly decisions.
As a trained facilitator I have influence. I have been trained to be unbiased nit am human. Facilitators need to be open to correction and apologise after making inevitable errors.Then
If elected I represent and vote as requested at Counci l meetings.
I can not however totally abdicate or give away responsibility.
If I can not accept the decision I can obstain and can be challenged legally.
Its sounds a bit complicated but as people do it everything makes sense and almost all think it very well worth it if their decisions made meaningful, things change for the better as a result of their volunteering.
From what I’ve seen of the normal 80% agreement on decisions compared to what we see from politics in every day democracy it’d obvious.
Public trust in nurses is 90+ % Politicians the lowest of all professions at 11% ona good day.
You can check the IPSOS poll of December 2024 and later versions.
I’ve spent 40 years visiting this and other parts s of the Isle of Wight and have called it home for over six years. I have no party to tell me how to vote and no outside interests to serve. I aim to serve this largely very beautiful Island and it’s communities
I work online a bit and started this website yesterday on April 12th 2026. I shall be adding to it explaining plenty more in the coming days and weeks before the May 7th elections.
If compelled I can do more than that however I aim to advertise here and on Facebook my door knock visits to the District’s villages in advance. I shall likely do spur of the moment stuff also.
I use AI responsibly, anonymously and transparently across much of my political and personal life, including drafting, reviewing and preparing documentation. Organising information and helping me think through day-to-day, month to month decisions. I almost always check its output carefully because it has obvious but ever reducing failings and limitations.
I know I remain fully accountable for my judgement, content, and actions.
