How long have you been doing this role?
I was first elected in May 2006. Although I have lived in Thornton Ward for over 30 years, this was the first time that I had stood for election as a local councillor.

Do you do any other job apart from being a Councillor?
No, not any more.  I am now retired.  I used to work as a town planner and I am also a qualified electrician.  After retiring I worked on a freelance basis but I don’t seem to have the time now that I am a councillor.  And I still have a school age child to look after and, until recently, had caring responsibilities for two very elderly parents.

You are one of three councillors in Thornton Ward, what role do you feel you have within the ward?
Because I am available during the day and can therefore attend estate walkabouts, I tend to deal with a lot of housing management issues, trying to improve conditions on our estates.  I chair the Neighbourhood Forum that is organised by the Clapham Park Project.  The Forum is designed to bring local people together and to give them a voice.  I’m an active member of the Friends of Agnes Riley Gardens and I sit on the Board of the Clapham Park Project trying to ensure that there will be a worthwhile legacy from that project to the benefit of everyone in the area.

What has been your biggest achievement as a ward Councillor?
I suppose it must be playing a part in getting the investment into the Weir Estate and Thornton Gardens for new windows and doors.  But I also managed to secure free access to the sports pitches in the Agnes Riley Gardens and some planned improvements to the pond and, last but not least, successfully campaigning for the TfL proposal to extend the 255 bus service to Balham.

How would you most like to see things change in the future for residents?
I would love to see our housing finances on a firmer footing so that we as councillors aren’t put in the impossible situation of having to raise the rent by as much as we had to do recently.  This would help tenants and leaseholders to be able to plan their own finances.  We have been able to get the council’s overall finances into pretty good shape having inherited a bare cupboard.  It would be a great achievement to do the same for housing.

What one thing do you think is the most important about working with residents?
Trying to see things from their point of view.  I think that life generally would be a lot better if we put ourselves in others’ shoes from time to time.

In the time you have been a Councillor, do you think Lambeth has improved if so can you tell us how?
I think it has.  I’ve mentioned the finances – that sounds a bit abstract but it has meant that we have been able to plan our non-housing expenditure better. I know that there have been some problems with refuse on the estates but generally our refuse collection system has improved and people seem much more satisfied with the cleanliness of the streets than they used to be.  We have been making great efforts to increase recycling -with some pilot food recycling projects – and the new Clapham Leisure and Library/Health Centre now seems to be getting off the drawing board.  We have opened two new secondary schools, in Brixton and Herne Hill, and are planning another and we have rebuilt some other educational facilities in an award winning way.  And, in housing, we have dramatically improved our ability to spend the capital money that is allocated to us.  That’s, in part, why we have been able to get the windows programme off the ground.

What most frustrates you about your role?
The length of time it takes to get anything done and the difficulty of getting hold of people.  I have worked in local government, so I know that it doesn’t have to be like this.  We are beginning to change the culture and things are starting to get better but there is much more to do.

What do you most like about living/working in Lambeth?
Definitely the people – if that isn’t too cringe-making.  We really do have a fantastic mix of people in Lambeth, lots of whom are hugely dedicated to making the place even better.  But it’s a good place to enjoy yourself, too – the cinemas, the ice-rink, the South Bank and Brockwell Park Lido to mention just a few of my favourites.

What is your biggest inspiration in life?
I think that’s too difficult to answer.  Lots of things inspire me but one of my heroines is our local one, Violette Szabo, who worked alongside the French Resistance and made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedoms.  I remember seeing the film about her, ‘Carve Her Name with Pride’, when I was quite young and being inspired by it.  I often wonder whether any of us – least of all me – would rise to such a challenge.  I think of her life when I need to make difficult decisions.

What impact, if any do you feel a residents association has?
I’ve always believed that people working together can move mountains.  When officers (and councillors) are presented with a united voice they find it difficult to ignore that voice.  And WERA has a fantastic record on delivering benefits to the estate from the involvement in the Weir Link project through to exerting the pressure that was needed to get the windows programme moving.

How would you describe WERA to our residents?
Basically that it is their organisation.  It is where they can come together to achieve things to their common benefit.

Should more be done to empower Residents Associations?
I think WERA is quite powerful.  Generally council officers and the local Safer Neighbourhood Team attend when they are asked.  And we as local councillors rarely miss a meeting. This isn’t necessarily the case with all residents’ associations.  And having the aerial money to dispose of each year gives it more resources than most.  But perhaps there is a case for formalising the rights of RAs to be able to call people to account.  And residents could let us know what would make them fell more empowered.

Please describe your best day out?
I suppose this should be a Lambeth one but I find it difficult to get away from councillor duties when I am at home so I’ll describe a good day out that I had earlier this year with my partner, my daughter and one of her friends in North Wales where my parents lived.  It was a lovely sunny spring day – we first went to Portmerion, a very attractive Italian style village built as a sort of folly, we admired the architecture and had a picnic lunch.  We then spent the afternoon on a nearby beach and ate award winning ice cream.  We went on to savour the old fashioned and rather genteel delights of Llandudno, ending up eating a nice dinner with a view of the sea.  Sea and food, that’s me!

As Ward Councillors, you recently held the first ever Thornton Ward event, do you think this is a positive way to improve relations and communication with residents?
Yes, the Strictly Thornton event went well, I think.  A lot of people didn’t quite know what to expect but the verdict was pretty favourable.  We tried to bring a variety of different groups together and lots of people helped and cooked delicious food.  And a bit of dancing broke the ice!  Unfortunately I’d broken a bone in my arm the previous week, so that took the gilt off the gingerbread for me personally.

Would you like to work more with residents to make life better?
I’m open to any suggestions about making life better.  Councillors can’t possibly know what people want without hearing from them.  If more residents got involved with WERA, we’d get to hear a wider range of views and that would be good.

What aspects of society would you most like to see changed?
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, people too often see the price of everything and the value of nothing.  I’m not sure how we change that – it would be an enormous cultural shift.

How do you feel the labour government has done for communities such as ours?
The obvious one is the Decent Homes Investment Programme that delivered the new windows.  But there are lots of other things, as well.  The Weir Link nursery is a Sure Start centre, a Labour initiative; the local schools are now streets ahead of where they were in 1997; the Working Families and Child Tax Credits have helped lots of families; hospital waiting lists are down; cancer care has improved enormously; we now have local policing in the form of Safer Neighbourhood Teams, a new idea; and the Pension Credits and Winter Fuel allowances have benefited elderly people – to name but a few.

What inspires you?
My mother, who died just recently, always made the best of what she had, saw the good in people and looked on the bright side (oh dear, the last bit sounds a bit Monty Pythonish!) and told me not to whinge about things but to do something about them.  I don’t always live up to that, but I try to.

How best do you think we as residents can take part in improving Thornton Ward?
Taking my cue from the last answer, I suppose it must be doing something rather than silently suffering or just complaining.  ‘Doing something’ can mean getting involved with your local community groups such as WERA and/or getting in touch with us councillors and giving us your ideas about the sort of improvements you want to see.  You can also come along to meetings such as the Neighbourhood Forum (I shall try to make sure that this gets advertised in the WERA newsletter and in the Weir Link one).

You can find details of how to contact Cllr Morris, as well as Cllr Peck, and Cllr Hipwell, by clicking here