CHIEF EXECUTIVES

Aidan Rave: Local government is unbreakable

Aidan Rave battled through several turbulent years at Doncaster MBC as a senior politician more than a decade ago. Now, reinvented as a council chief executive, he urges the sector to stop carping at the Government and get on with the job. Sam Clayden reports.

Local politicians who make the transition into the senior management realm are a rare breed. But Aidan Rave, former Doncaster MBC deputy mayor turned South Kesteven DC chief executive, believes his foundation as an elected member will make him a more effective officer.

Having just passed the 100-day mark at the helm of the Lincolnshire district, Aidan is quickly learning that as a chief executive you have to be ‘a political animal without being political'. He says: ‘You need to know how to work with politics to be successful. A political grounding helps you to understand what sits behind the decisions politicians make, how they think and interact'.

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