National Councillors Day

Not only is it St George's Day today (Huzzah!) but it is also (allegedly) William Shakespeare's birthday. The old bard would in fact be 443 if he were alive today.

These dates are well known - even if Shakespeare's actual birthday is probably a matter of wishful thinking - and reasonably well marked. What is not so well known is that John Shakespeare, the Sweet Swan of Avon's dear old dad, was an Alderman in Stratford - an early representative of local government.

So I say to myself, why shouldn't we use the same day to mark the national poet, England's national saint and our much-maligned elected representatives in local government?

If Britain can have a national jelly bean day (as we did, yesterday) and a national allotments week (coming our way 13-19 August) and even a national moth night (11 August, put it in your diary), surely it's not beyond the bounds of possibility to have a national councillors day. I doubt the greeting card industry would be rushed off their feet with requests for "Happy Councillors Day, Councillor!" cards, so it's got to be cheap.

Surprisingly, Shakespeare didn't write any grand dramas about cloak-and-dagger town hall intrigues - even though he spent a lot of time in Southwark.

W. S. Gilbert, however, gave us his appreciation of the role of new-fangled county councillors in the 1893 Gilbert and Sullivan opera "Utopia Limited":

"This County Councillor acclaim,
Great Britain's latest toy —
On anything you like to name
His talents he'll employ —
All streets and squares he'll purify
Within your city walls,
And keep, meanwhile, a modest eye
On wicked music halls."

Ah yes, those wicked music halls. Still a problem.

Happy St George's Day!