Flatpack Democracy, Frome, England

<p>The legend — which happens to be true — is that it started in a pub. A group of locals in Frome, a small town in Somerset, England, had been meeting as regulars over the course of many evenings, united primarily by their dissatisfaction with the local town council. The council, they felt, lacked ambition. One of those regulars was Peter Macfadyen — a mild-mannered Englishman with strong views about why Frome deserved better governance, particularly on climate. The pub conversations coalesced into something concrete: a slate of independent candidates, unbeholden to any party, running as Independents for Frome. In 2011, they won every seat on the Town Council. Macfadyen became mayor.</p><p>What followed was a quiet revolution in local governance. Freed from party discipline and centralized messaging, the council could actually respond to what Frome needed. Macfadyen wrote a booklet about the experience — Flatpack Democracy: A DIY Guide to Independent Politics — which spread rapidly. Since 2014, the movement has grown from one disgruntled pub table into a nationwide phenomenon. Around fifty towns and parishes across England are now run by groups of independents working together for the benefit of their communities. In Frome, Independents for Frome won every available seat again in 2019, and again in 2022.</p><p>The story of Frome is a story about relational technology in the oldest sense — a group of people who see each other regularly, in a place they share, who decide to translate their shared frustration into shared governance. The pub is the infrastructure. The regular meetings are the practice. The ballot is the tool. Flatpack Democracy suggests that the most radical act in local politics may simply be showing up — repeatedly, as neighbors, without a party telling you what to think.</p>