Age and Being a Councillor

Age is a funny thing. I'm 48 now, but I don't think I feel different inside to the 38 year old me, or indeed 28 year old me.

I'm sure that part of this is due to being a councillor. For quite a while I was the youngest in the Lib Dem group (and indeed got some invaluable help and advice from my older colleagues on such things as driving lessons, buying a car, buying a flat, and even that biggest decision of my life, a marriage proposal.) I'm still one of the younger councillors on Rochford District , and sometimes feel like a sort of official council 'Nephew' whose enthusiasm is appreciated , rather than the 'Leader of the Opposition'

I've been a councillor now for 23 years. As the years roll by, babies have become voters, young dads get grey hair, and active pensioners became frailer and aren't there to open the front door any more....

But I don't look in the mirror very much. And somehow I've felt untouched by Anno Domini when I'm doing council activities - at least until this week. When I heard that someone had voted Lib Dem because I had been at school with her uncle, it finally came home to me that I wasn't the 'young' councillor any more....