This village - well, this pair of villages - has a parish council. We also have quite a few people who work from home and need good broadband - which we do not yet have, and have no current prospects of same.

When I suggested to the council we look into this, because there's no lack of interest, I was told 'Excellent idea! We'll form a committee at the next meeting.'

That was months ago. Oddly enough, nothing has happened since. (And unfortunately I haven't been here for most of that time to chase things up.)

So representation only works when you have people with an interest in getting things done representing you. When you have people who think decisions can only be made by going through Proper Channels™ you're onto a loser.

And when you have people who become representatives purely for career reasons, things work even less well.