Councillor Alexandra Bullat

1.Many immigrants like myself are not aware that the United Kingdom has provided us rights to participate in politics let alone vote. We would like to know more about your journey into Politics and how it came about. What inspired you ? Tell us where it all started and how it came about till the point you have become a councillor now. 

It is a long story. But I think just to start off by saying, I think you are right that many people who come to the UK especially children or young adults are not aware about their political rights. I moved when I was 18, like many people during their university years of the UK. Many people from Commonwealth countries do not know that they can vote in elections in the UK. And of course, myself being from a European Union country when I arrived I also did not know I could vote. I could not vote in all elections before I became British, but I could vote in the local level elections.

when I moved to the UK and I had just turned 18, and I was not someone who was involved in politics (earlier) in the sense I did not grow up in a political family. So this was not something that was discussed growing up. I had no idea I could vote in local Elections. If you do not register to vote you do not go to vote. And I think a lot of my friends who are from Romania at the time we were very involved in Romanian politics, following the news there and not really following what is happening in the UK. I started my degree at University of Sussex. Of course, a lot of the students, British students in particular were speaking about politics, but I was someone who was listening, but not ever involved or interested in that sense. I was just focusing on my studies. I was working alongside and that was about it. 

Then in 2016 the referendum for Brexit happened. I got to meet many people who supported Brexit at the time before the referendum, and personally was not surprised by the result.  whereas my friends, who are staying mainly in a university or campus environment were really shocked that that could happen. I think that was the first moment when I realized that politics in the UK actually does impact me directly as someone who was at that point was not a citizen. Since then, In 2020, I became British as well. So when I got my British citizenship I felt even more empowered to participate in politics. 

The narrative and stereotypes about migrants at that time affected beyond people from the EU. A lot of my friends at the time, who are from other migrant backgrounds, from outside the EU, from Commonwealth also felt affected because of the narrative around immigration. And it was the first moment I realized this decision actually does impact my actual rights in the country because I was not sure if I could stay and on what terms I could stay.

It is about a 2 year period of negotiations and uncertainty, where we did not know exactly how our rights would look like (the people who arrived before Brexit) and that is the moment when I became involved. 

After Brexit, I started going to more informational events, because I wanted to know what my rights are. So I started to go to some events in London where different migration charities were speaking about this issue. And then I attended events. On one of their events they were saying they are looking for people who speak different languages to translate the information and to share it on social media. And it is how I think my first volunteering opportunity ever arrived because I speak Romanian and I can help with translations. And then from there I volunteered for one thing, and volunteered for another thing, and got involved.

During my PhD degree, I started working for this charity organization part time. Doing various projects mainly with young people, engaging young people in the debate around Brexit and migrant rights. It was only in 2021 when I stood for the first time in elections. So that is when I got elected to the council. And that was because I got involved over the years from 2017 till 2021. Those 4 years I got involved in speaking to charities , different NGOs and not for profit organizations. The more I realized this issue that there are a lot of people doing a lot of work mainly in their free time like trying to help others. 

I realize there is so many people putting a lot of effort in the immigration issues. But ultimately the legislation and the policies that are impacting the community will not change unless people get involved in actual politics. I realized over the last years how the demand was increasing because the immigration rules became more and more restrictive. Obviously more people needed legal advice, needed support and needed community space. I looked at a bit at the politics at the local level first, because at the time I was not British yet. You are not allowed to stand if you are not British, Irish, or Commonwealth. 

I looked at the local council. In Cambridgeshire we have a district level and city level councils . I Cambridge City its surrounding. , market towns and villages have a diverse population. There are a lot of people of migrant backgrounds, working, living here. I realized how unrepresented the people we elect are of the wider community, because you can have an area like Cambridgeshire where you do not have many peoople who does not tick the white or other box on the census. They are so few people of migrant background. That is the moment in 2021, when I was already in the charity sector and involved in Labour Party as well. it is when I stood as a Labour candidate there and since then I have been a councillor there. So it is 2021 and we were elected on a 4 years term in the county until 2025. So that is the long story.

To summarize, it was because of what happened after Brexit and also one of the other things is about the kind of community and the kind of how the community was affected by this. That is what really pushed me into actually standing for election and campaigning on those issues.

2. There is a perception that politics is a career of sorts, but the truth is that it is more than that. It involves a lot of sacrifices and dedication . Working people like us should come into politics as we are the ones who know the day to day struggles that the majority of us go through. I wanted to hear your understanding given your journey.

What is really interesting is actually the difference between kind of local level politics and the national level politics. Because most people when thinking about politics think about Members of Parliament (MP). Being a member of Parliament is designed to be a full time job in the sense you get a decent salary. So I think the salary is about 86,000 pounds. You get the budget for your staff, so you will have an assistant and you would have someone who does your case work. You would have a parliamentary office. So it is designed to be able to do the job without needing any other income. 

At the local level,however what most people are  unaware of is that it is not like anywhere near as being a Member of Parliament and each council is really different because of how complicated our local government structures are in the UK. So in a lot of other countries being a local councillor or a mayor is considered a Job.I know people who are involved in politics in Romania who have a decent life being in politics. 

However in the UK,  A councillor (pay) is not considered a salary. So each council has what is called an allowance, and you can be a councillor in some councils and get something like 2,000 pounds a year before tax. it can be in some councils like the London councils that have a bigger allowance that you can get something like 16,000 pounds a year. In any case, in most councils if you are a person of a working age, and you need to pay for your rent or mortgage, or have children, or have any kind of expenses and you are not retired or wealthy then you need to have another job. This is the reality with how much things cost in the UK. 

So I think thats one of the reasons why in local politics in the UK, the diversity is even lower than in Parliament. The average age of all the councillor elected across the UK is around 60 because it is the time when you are retired , you pay and have your house already. It is good to have people who have the life experience and work experience to contribute to politics but this means that for younger people and people of working age It is actually not an easy thing. 

Being a councillor is not a career choice. I have to do something else in the side as well. So, for example, I have my own not for profit organization , I do a job during the day and evenings ; I do some research for other charities as well. And then have the council work . All those things combined, make up my full time income. But what this means is that you have less time to spend on your councillor role than perhaps someone who is retired, and has no financial pressures and no caring responsibilities. 

It is actually very difficult to persuade younger people into politics, because now, especially with how the cost of living situation is in the UK in terms of accommodation, food, and everything else. 

As you correctly said  it is not only about the career as you need to have a passion for it, because otherwise if you just thought about it as a job , you would not do this job, because you can work somewhere else . So I do agree with you especially at the local level. I think it is true. 

So this discourages immigrants who are young.You are talking about passion. The passion would be caring about other people. And that is how you can be in politics and that is very unique 

it is about what job you also because I am very lucky to be honest as I did work in research and in the charity sector. I do work pretty much full time hours alongside, but it is flexible. So for me I can go and attend council meetings during the day. I can go to the community event. I can go to the local church. If I was working, for example as a nurse or a teacher, probably it would be very difficult to balance the councillor work. 

The other thing which I think is off putting for young people in politics is that the work you do does not count as an income. I am renting now, but if I am looking for a mortgage, and I have my agreement in principle from the bank and the councillor pay does not count as sort of income because although I pay tax on it , I am not an employee or self employed. 

3. Would love to know about a typical 'day in the life of a working people Councillor', how do you manage working full time and also managing your duties as a councillor. How do you work day to day? 

So each councillor day depends a bit on the political makeup of the council. whether you are in the administration or not, or if you are in power or in opposition, and so on. You are usually a member of different committees. In Cambridge, in my County Council we have a committee system, some councils have the Cabinet system, where the power is concentrated in more fewer people. So, for example, from my council you have different committees, different policy areas.There are 61 councils in total in the county. All of us 61 are in a big meeting together and in debates and big topics. You have separate meetings for different policy areas. So for instance, I am on the Children and Young People Committee, which covers schools to education and so on. I am on the adults and Health Committee, which covers social care and other related things that the Council provides.

I am also the vice chair of the community social Mobility and Inclusion Committee, which covers a wide range of things including citizenship ceremonies that are done by the Council. It includes libraries that are owned by the Council and a lot of other skills training initiatives. So I am on 3, for example, 3 big ones. Some colleagues are on one or more so it depends a bit on your time. 

How the typical day looks depends on the committee. Lets take Adults and health like as an example , It usually starts at 10 'clock. So you have to make your way to the Council. What is really interesting when you are in the county is that It is a large area. Unlike the city Council, you have to factor in the travel time because the building is in the middle of a rural area. It is not like in a city where I can easily travel wherever you are in the county. For some people it is an hour to travel there, for some people it is more depending whether you drive or not.

This committee finishes around like 4'clock or 5 pm , for example. You basically spend the whole day .After that, you catch up with some colleagues and you might do some other work. You might have another meeting, since you are already in the council building. We might meet with one of the officers around certain issues, and then you travel back home. So that is kind of a 9 to 5 thing. 

And it is same with when you have the full day council meetings, the big meetings come in the morning. You finish in the evening and you go home. So at the end of the day, when it becomes really complicated you have to mix the work. In those days when I have the whole day, I just do not do any of the other work that day. It depends on how proactive you want to be in the local area. There are a lot of things that you do not have to do because it is not a job with a job description. it depends on how proactive and involved you are. 

I know some community events are conducted by local charity and different community groups. They invite me to events. I also want to proactively engage with residents. So sometimes someone will email to say I have a problem on my local road as an example. They would want me to come around and see it. I report on it and so on. So usually on Fridays ,I separate a day for that kind of work. I will go to my local area. I will engage with some organizations, I would like to visit some residents in their home discussing issues. But that is something that really depends on how proactive you want to be. So I guess the basics of it is like attending those council meetings and obviously answering the emails and your phone because the constituents can contact you with casework. You have to balance work and life in this way. 

4. What are your aspirations for the future of the people in your constituency and in the UK based on? what major issues that people are currently facing in your constituency and what are your solutions to this? 

if you visit Cambridge you would go to the central area where it is so nice and wealthy and everyone is very happy. But I represent an area in the east of Cambridge City,which is actually one of the most deprived areas, not only in Cambridge City, but in the whole county. So as to give you an understanding , the life expectancy in the area where I represent is about 10 years lower than people who live in nice parts of Cambridge. It really does show the kind of inequality that exists because you can have this very wealthy university towns overall with very good companies that provide  good professional jobs but it does not really benefit everyone in the city. 

So one of the big things that I hope to achieve at least by the end of my 4 year term is setting up new community center. The current community center is built from back in the seventies so it hasn't been refurbished. So one of the big projects we are working on locally is to have this new Community Center Building that we have received some funding for from the County Council and the City Council as well. We plan to have everything in one building and to have a nursery, a community cafe, a library and to provide a space for the community to meet. 

If you go into central area, you have so many cafes and spaces and then you drive 10 min out of Cambridge to the place where I represent there is literally nothing . You have a Spa shop and a Mcdonald's and that is all. It is a totally different world .What we are trying to do is actually bring more local business and more community spaces here. So that is what I really hope for by the end of my term.

In areas that are deprived the engagement of people is much lower. I try to be active to inform people what I am doing. I am on the local Facebook group frequently posting updates. I do hope that whether or not people vote for me either way they can feel a bit more informed about what is going on locally regardless of their political views. And that is something that would like to bring about by the end of my term . It important to engage in consultations and actually having the confidence to go to their local councillor (it is me or my other colleagues) who represent them from a different party. Whenever I go around the area and I speak to people , I always ask them if they are registered to vote. and again, as you said at the beginning, so many people who have migrated many years ago, still are not aware they can vote. So getting these people to get involved in politics is something I hope to do as well.