Student swaps university life for council chamber

Student swaps university life for council chamber

28 May 2014

THE reality that he has secured a seat on Newry, Mourne and Down Council is starting to sink in with new Rowallane Alliance councillor Patrick Brown.

After a whirlwind weekend, he returned from Sheffield University to his home at the Craig Road outside Downpatrick on Monday ready for a major new chapter in his life.

The 22 year-old readily admits he did not expect to be elected, a view widely shared by election pundits and candidates across Rowallane before voters went to the polls last Thursday.

The Alliance man didn’t campaign, didn’t put up a single election poster or knock anyone’s door due to his university commitments in Sheffield. Party officials did distribute some of his election literature but even they were convinced Patrick would not be creating any major upset. How wrong they were.

The new Alliance candidate — who handed in his undergraduate dissertation in Politics at Sheffield last Friday morning as the election count got underway in Newry — said his success provides “real evidence of the desire for change in the new council.”

He continued: “I am incredibly fortunate to be a Rowallane representative in the new council and am very honoured and excited to represent local people. I will work hard to ensure my election benefits them.”

Patrick’s dissertation “Peace Process or Cultural War; how are political leaders causing stagnation in the Northern Ireland peace process?” was handed in just 15 minutes before the noon deadline last Friday. Twelve hours later, he had caused a major political upset by ousting the UUP’s Walter Lyons to secure the last remaining seat in Rowallane.

Three years ago, Patrick stood in Rowallane for Alliance and was unsuccessful and had no real thoughts about entering the political arena again. Until that is he interviewed party leader David Ford last month for his dissertation.

“David recognised me from the 2011 election and asked me why I wasn’t running this time,” Patrick explained. “I went into the interview with the party leader with no thought of running again but he talked me round to the idea of doing it. What better endorsement than from the party leader himself. When he tells you it’s a good idea to run you sort of start to think that it is.

“Did I think I would be elected? Absolutely not. I want to be as honest as possible and say I thought there was no way that would happen as I hadn’t campaigned,” said Patrick.

There has been criticism of the new Alliance councillor, with unionists describing him as a “paper candidate,” and accusation which made headlines in a furious television debate on the BBC between UUP MLA Danny Kennedy and the Alliance leader.

Patrick continued: “I would simply say to those who were upset that a paper candidate got in, what does that say about their real candidates?”

A story was doing the rounds last Friday night that Patrick was lying in bed when the news came through that he had been elected. With a wry smile he admitted he was in fact sitting chatting with a flat mate at the time.

“I was keeping up to date with everything on Twitter and Councillor Terry Andrews was also keeping me updated directly from the count centre. I knew by about 8pm that I had around 500 first preferences, which was 150 more than I had in 2011.

“At this stage, I did not think I had a chance as the UUP candidate was ahead of me by over 100 votes. I thought if I got a couple more transfers I could end up with around 600 votes as well, but securing a seat was not on my mind.

“By 11pm, when Terry told me I was now getting transfers from other parties, I said to my flat mate ‘what if this happens and I’m elected’ but he told me not be ridiculous. Terry’s phone then died and I was literally in the dark for an hour about what was going on. He then rang around midnight and said he thought I was going to cause a major political upset,” explained Patrick.

The new councillor revealed that by this stage he was shaking and staring at his laptop, hoping someone would post something on Twitter about the Rowallane count. Then Terry rang Patrick back informing him that the unionist candidates had walked out of the count in rage and he thought the Alliance candidate was going to get in.

“Minutes later, I heard I had been elected,” said Patrick, describing his election a “major shock and upset.” He admitted it was never his intention to try and win a seat, branding his success a “massive statement from the community in Rowallane” and evidence of how perceptions of Alliance have changed over time.

The new councillor agreed that he has made history in a small way, securing a seat for the party in Rowallane for the first time in four decades.

Patrick added: “It’s still a bit surreal, but the fact I have been elected is starting to sink in bit by bit. Now that I am actually here and running around doing party business all day it’s starting to feel a bit more real but obviously I have not had a chance to think about what my policies might be and who I am going to work with.

“The new council will be very different and I like the idea of a challenge. That will make it a lot more exciting for me. The new council spans a much bigger area with real planning and regeneration powers and it will be really fascinating to see how this works. I always try and take on new things and this is a very exciting new thing.

“I will not be an absentee councillor and am here for the party. I have a duty to the electorate to fulfil my job to the best possible standard. I also see myself active on the ground showing people how local politics works and want to get them enthused about that.”