Carmarthenshire Councillor of the Year

Barely a week goes by these days it seems without some tedious, back-slapping awards ceremony, and things inevitably get worse towards the end of the year as the media indulges in a frenzy of reviews, but we may as well join in and go in search of Carmarthenshire County Councillor of the Year to end on a light note after what has been a pretty dire 12 months.

In theory there are 74 to choose from, but even the most obsessive of council watchers would be challenged to find anything at all to say about many of them. Then there is quite a body of councillors about whom it would be hard to find anything positive to say. So let's concentrate on the rest.

If readers would like to nominate one or more councillors for any of the categories listed below and provide a brief explanation, send in a comment.

The good news is that since the elections in 2012 there has been an increase in the number of councillors prepared to challenge the executive, and it will be interesting to see whether some of the hitherto silent majority on the Labour and Independent benches find their voices as the cuts bite, and mismanagement at the top becomes more and more evident.

There have been some outstanding performances this year from Alun Lenny, Emlyn Dole, Darren Price and others on the Plaid benches. For Labour, sort of, Bill Thomas stands out for his integrity and refusal to do as he's told. No list of members of the awkward squad would be complete without Siân Caiach, of course.

Jeff Edmunds is in a category of his own as being the only member of the governing Executive Board to put warm words about openness and transparency into action.

There is another group of councillors who are in the limelight less often, but who nevertheless have put in some quietly impressive performances fighting their particular corners. They include Linda Evans, Gwyneth Thomas and Cefin Campbell tackling issues such as social care, public transport and the Welsh language.

Another category is the usually unsung case work carried out by councillors on behalf of constituents. By its  nature this is nearly always sensitive and confidential, but Cneifiwr is aware of several cases where individual councillors have given a great deal of help and support to local people fighting injustices.

There are, of course, councillors who fit into more than one category.

This is not a scientific exercise, and there is nothing to prevent individual councillors from nominating themselves, except honesty and a sense of shame. Since some of them are shameless, and as a preventative measure, Calum Higgins is disqualified.

Prizes are still being negotiated, but may be as follows:

• 1st Prize - a candlelit supper for two at the new Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in Carmarthen with the deputy council leader of your choice
• 2nd Prize - an weekend in Burry Port with Cllr Tegwen Devichand
• 3rd Prize - a week's caravan holiday in Kidwelly with Cllr Pam Palmer