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“Traditionally, people have kept out of politics until they have retired, but nobody should be debarred from politics by people saying you haven’t the experience.”Whatever age, you do have to be committed to do the job properly, he said. He sees the argument for having full-time councillors, but is less convinced about the need for a chief executive-style mayor for towns. “With elected mayors, talking about London is one thing, talking about the region I represent is another.”`Young people aren’t going to wait years for their turn’Anna Sofat, 38, is a marketing manager and mother-of-two who has served on Rochester upon Medway City Council for three years.As an Indian and a woman, she welcomed the push to encourage more women and ethnic minorities into local government, where older white men are still the norm. She’s the best person for the job.”He regards himself as a young councillor but, at 54 this year, is approaching the over-55 group the Prime Minister cited as being prevalent in local government. Ian Stubbs, 53, is an electrician who has served on Scarborough Borough Council for 19 years, and was mayor in 1995. He thought Tony Blair’s speech “inspirational – if you were beginning to question whether we were moving the right way, it gave me all the answers”

But he had some doubts about the details.

“I don’t think in all honesty you can look at the numbers of women or ethnic minorities in isolation and say there aren’t enough,” he said. “It has to depend on ability and the quality of the candidates. It sells women short if you say it’s just a matter of having 40 or 50 per cent.
“The leader of Scarborough Borough Council is a woman and she isn’t there because of quotas or because of her gender. Values that matter and concepts of ideals worth fighting for require a courage to make them live again.”. Mr Blair added: “The purpose of change is not to obliterate basic values, it is actually to make them live again.

So far only a single non-London member of the Local Government Association – the national grouping of local authorities – has come out in favour of the reform.Privately, Tony Blair told Labour councillors that they have “lost their place in the hearts and minds of local people”. Fresh from his meeting with President Clinton, he will use American examples to show that local government can be a “vital part of local life”.But in his public address he sympathised with councillors for their “frustration in wanting change quicker I feel that frustration too”. The paper will, however, stop short of endorsing proportional representation. It will be ambiguous, too, about the principle of elected mayors for every council.Mr Prescott used his conference speech to attack the House of Lords for delaying the government Bill allowing a referendum in London on the creation of a mayor and elected assembly But outside London, few councillors seem to want mayors.