The Associations of the members of the Council

Abstract

THROUGHOUT the period one aspect of the Council members’ extra-Council activities is strikingly constant, their ‘clubbability’. They were always inveterate joiners of Associations, and not merely in a passive role, but as active members, sitting on Executive Committees, and as officers. Initially membership of an Association would assist an individual to obtain a seat on the Council, in that he would be provided with an arena in which to make a reputation, to show his competence at administration and committee work, and to display his powers of persuasion. Success in this field might bring him to the attention of a sitting member of the Council, who would suggest that he too might become a Councillor. During the subsequent election campaign the Association would most likely be a valuable source of help for the candidate. Once elected, he would be drawn into other Associations, either as a result of his own initiative in the quest for further support, or as a result of approaches made to him by the Associations seeking his aid and patronage. A skilful Councillor could capitalise on small initial assets, augmenting them to provide an ever-growing fund of backers. Thus being in an Association helped the man into the Council, and then being in the Council helped him to become a member of more Associations, which in turn further consolidated his position on the Council.