Interesting paper from Localis debating whether or not we should have more directly elected mayors. Although we often associate modern style of mayors in the UK (mainly London) as imports from the US, there is a relatively long history of mayors stretching as far back as the 12th Century in UK. London is offered as […]
Cllr Rene Kinzett, the leader of the Conservative Group on Swansea Council, is being investigated by the Local Government Ombudsman after declaring that "most of the people on the council are in their 60s and, quite frankly, past it." Not quite clear if he was saying that anyone over 60 is too old to be a […]
After Cllr Jackie Phipps comments yesterday, Cllr Tim Mills now gives his views. I'm a constituent of John Bercow and signed his nomination paper at the last election (although more than one was prepared and I'm not which one was used). I want MP's to be paid sufficiently to be able to do their jobs […]
After the revelations that John Bercow, the Conservative MP for Buckingham, "flipped" the designation of his main home in 2003 in order to avoid liability for Capital Gains Tax, we are asking councillors in his constituency for their views on whether he should be deselected. Here Cllr Jackie Phipps gives her response: John Bercow has been […]
Cllr Mike Whitby has beaten off a challenge from Cllr Randal Brew, a fellow Conservative councillor, for the leadership of Birmingham Council. The decision at the annual meeting of the 49-strong Conservative Group was understood to have returned Cllr Whitby by a clear margin. Cllr Brew had offered a change of direction. For instance he noted […]
Further to the item on Friday about the role of councillors in deselecting MPs engaged in expenses abuse I have emailed all the Conservative councillors in his Bracknell constituency. There are 43 of them so far as I can tell – most of them on Bracknell Forest District Council but also six on Wokingham Council. […]
There is a strong mood that in the worst cases of MPs abusing their expenses it is not enough to repay, nor is an apology. They should go. Withdrawing the whip from them would be the straightforward answer. As would them agreeing to stand down. But should grassroots activists be just sitting back and waiting? […]
By definition councillors are representative in the sense that they are elected. So far as selection is concerned one would hope that when the Conservatives are choosing Council candidates they would do so on merit – who would do the best job. Is this all there is to be said on the subject? If, for […]
Inspired by the decision of the Mayor of London Boris Johnson to put up a portrait of The Queen at City Hall, Cllr Tim Archer, the Conservative opposition leader on Tower Hamlets, called for her protrait to be displayed at their Town hall. This has now been agreed. John Williams, the Head of Democratic Services, has […]
The Birmingham Post reports that Cllr Mike Whitby, the Conservative leader of Birmingham City Council, is to face a leadership challenge from within the Conservative Group with Cllr Randal Brew putting his name forward. Policy differences have already been reported here. A further controversy has been a proposed £20 million loan to Warwickshire County Cricket Club.
Cllr Jim Harker, the Conservative leader of Northamptonshire County Council, outlines the Conservative vision for the next four years. Our manifesto sets out what we have achieved and how we intend to build on what we have achieved, to ensure Northamptonshire County Council is a well managed and efficient organisation that puts our customers and […]
Jessica Crowe, Executive Director of the Centre for Public Scrutiny, responds to critics of the effectiveness and expense of Council scrutiny arrangements. Here at the Centre for Public Scrutiny we have a comprehensive knowledge base about overview and scrutiny in local government. This level of insight is rare since practical experience of scrutiny’s development in […]
Items in the current issue include: Labour have deselected seven "long-standing working class councillors" in Barking and Dagenham including former Mayor Dee Hunt and current deputy mayor Fred Barns. Middle class allies of local Labour MP Margaret Hodge are deemed responsible. Lib Dem led Southwark Council is spending £15,000 on a "community empowerment event" at […]
There is often much cynicism about whether localism will be delivered by a Conservative Government – or whether once they have got power they will prefer to hang on to it rather than give any of it away. So there is encouraging news today that the Mayor of London is backing proposals for power to […]
Last week the Conservative MP Ian Liddell-Grainger gave the following speech in the House of Commons I am delighted to have the opportunity in an Adjournment debate to talk about Mr. Paul Buchanan. This is a short debate with a short title, but I am here to tell the House of some extraordinary events in the […]