THE excellent letter from M Kozlowski (March 10) explains what is wrong with local councils and why our town is in such a mess.

Apart from those who have retired, our councillors have either lost their jobs, have little work experience or have never worked at all. Consequently, they are not equipped to run Bolton for the benefit of the town and its people. Those who do have business experience like Paul and Diana Brierley find that they do not have the time to combine work with being a councillor. Mr Kozlowski’s suggestion that party politics should be left out of local elections is not really practicable because everyone has a political viewpoint.

What would help, however, is if the agents preparing the prospective candidates’ leaflets for the forthcoming May election provide us with information about the candidates such as their education, family and working life, in other words what qualities they will bring to the council chamber and what they propose to do for the benefit of the town and its people.

Some councillors have been in office for so long that many people who have moved to Bolton since they were first elected or who are voting for the first time have no idea who the candidates are or what they stand for. Even those who have lived here for a long time receive leaflets from prospective candidates that they have never heard of.

If we are provided with information about the candidates, we can then decide for ourselves which candidate, irrespective of party, is best suited to represent our views.

R Swindells Bolton