I want Bradford to have councillors who take pride in their work and up for whatever challenges are thrown at them

As someone who has previously had the privilege of serving as a Bradford councillor, I might impart one bit of advice on any candidate lucky enough to be elected next week: Enjoy it.

There will be many reflections to come from these remarkable and unpredictable “all-out” elections, but one thing I increasingly notice is a general lack of enthusiasm, passion and indeed happiness for the pursuit of holding an elected office.

We now have candidates who are devoting more time to pulling their opponents apart rather than promoting what they stand for, a hideous torrent of misinformation about local and national issues – as well as the role of a councillor – and a general cloud of negativity about Bradford and its people. 

In some quarters, we’re told it’s “broken”, in others that this is some sort of bogus referendum to leave the clutches of Bradford. In truth, it’s neither. It’s my firm belief that any candidate looking for a seat at Bradford City Hall should have a sincere pride in their place and its people.

They should understand the nuances of its fascinating history and culture and the impact that they have on the future of the city. And they should absolutely recognise the poverty and profound social ills that grip parts of Bradford, but also should see them as a challenge to do better rather than a stick to beat others with. 

Since becoming one of three Bradford Labour candidates for Royds toward the end of 2025, I have engaged in hundreds of conversations with people across the ward on doorsteps, at events, and in community centres.

While there have been the very occasional and isolated bits of abuse, the overwhelming majority of people are more than happy to chat about their area and their city and to probe their candidate in a bit more detail.

Even the more frank and challenging conversations are always respectful and friendly – a complete contrast to Facebook where there is a bizarre and visceral hatred for anyone who has the audacity to stand for public office. 

From these doorstep conversations, I recognise a couple of broad themes. The first one is how national politics is affecting places like Bradford. People are, undoubtedly, fed up.

They are working harder than ever but getting less for their money, and the notion of “change” after 14 years of Tory austerity is not happening anywhere near as fast as it needs to.

While they welcome Labour’s commitments to investing heavily in Bradford – such as a new Central Railway Station – they also want a bus service right now that will be cheap, fast and reliable (just to use transport as one example).

People are also utterly fed up with so-called “low-level’ crime” which is nothing of the sort when your family is impacted by it. We desperately need more police – allowed to do proper policing – in places like Royds and I’m encouraged that commitments have been made to put more bobbies on the beat. But it needs to happen fast and it needs to happen at scale. People also need to have more confidence that their concerns are being taken seriously. 

The second broader area is more local and relates to civic pride, or a lack of it. This, admittedly, is where I declare a personal interest, as it’s something I’ve dedicated the last decade to in Bradford.

Put simply, I want people of all ages and all backgrounds to take more pride in where they live. Because when it works, it works really well. After campaigning in Royds last week, I popped into our new market on Darley Street, which was heaving with city fans ahead of the crunch game with Bolton.

You could see and feel from the sea of claret and amber on North Parade that civic pride does exist in Bradford and we need to do even more to encourage people to love where they live. It’s simply not good enough to have a city where people are just about scraping by. 

My earlier point on enjoying the role of a councillor – I loved being able to look through the city’s archives from time to time when I needed a bit of inspiration. One of my favourite bits of Bradford folklore is how the architects of our magnificent City Hall used an inspirational slogan to win the design competition at the time: “Let Bradford Flourish”.

I keep that rallying call in mind as I continue to campaign in Royds. I want Bradford to have councillors who take pride in their work, who are optimistic and up for whatever challenges are thrown at them.

I don’t want our area to settle for scraps and pats on the head when it clearly has all the ingredients to have a strong and thriving economy. I want people to have a bit more brass in their pocket, to enjoy nice things in life and to never have to worry about their children. I want Bradford to flourish.

Si Cunningham was previously a Labour councillor for Bolton and Undercliffe. He was also the chairman of Bradford Civic Society from 2018 to 2024, was on the bid team for Bradford’s successful UK City of Culture bid and was a founding director of Bradford Business Improvement District. He is also chairman of Bradford Heritage Action Zone.