There are hard-working Conservative councillors who take their role very seriously...Cllrs Will, McVeigh, Addenbrooke, Thallasites, Kemahli, Taylor-Smith and Lindsay spring to mind but there are many others.
When he gets on the candidates list his short sojourn in K&C will look good. Was that what it was all about?
His letter published by THINK is just so embarrassing.
Anyone would think the man was sending a ministerial resignation letter to Sunak.
His reference to his family having 90 years experience as K&C officers left the Dame rather flumoxxed.
What on earth does that have to do with the price of salt?
Dear Dame,
ReplyDeleteAccording to This Is North Kensington, Monica Press is standing for the Labour Party in Norland Ward following the resignation of Councillor Graham.
Monica was shafted by the "Dent Coad Conspiracy" along with Councillors Henderson and Nail. She is crucial to Labour making sure that Dent Coad does not make a comeback on to parliament stage.
Monica will be well placed in the Council Chamber to observe those snakes in the grass who are Labour but are, nonetheless, sucking up to Dent Coad and damaging Joe Powell's chances.
Wishing you every success, Monica, you deserve it. I hope Norland voters know that they are getting a star.
I won’t be voting for Press.
DeleteThe "Dent Coad Conspiracy" was pure evil.
DeleteOrchestrated by an egotistical, embittered, woman with an over inflated view of her capabilities.
Good riddance. I heard that the Labour party have come to their sense & picked Monica Press to run in Norland. That's where my vote will be going.
ReplyDeleteWho?
ReplyDeleteWhy did Kensington Tories deselect Julie Mills and replace her with with this useless arsewiping git?
ReplyDeleteJulie Mills would have never tolerated alleged cash for candidacies
ReplyDeleteJulie Mills is one of the few Councillors that has served Kensington and Chelsea Council whose integrity is unimpeachable. She did right by people without the petty party politics of Labour and Tory.
DeleteWe should all rue the day when Julie left local politics.
Julie Mills listens to people whom Council Officers and other Councillors write off as "cranks" or "crackpots." She is like a dog with a bone, she will not drop an important issue just because Officers and Members of the Council consider it expedient to do so. These are qualities to which all Councillors should aspire. I have never voted Tory but I would do so in a flash if Julie were on the ballot paper.
DeleteI hope Julie is well and enjoying retirement from public life.
If only Julie Mills would make a comeback. But like Press did not fit in with the far left and EDC's group, Mills doesn't fit in with the corrupt sleazemongerers and vested interests of the front line of today's Tory party.
DeleteAgreed: There is no comparison between Monica Press and Emma Dent Coad's Marxist, some say Trotskyite faction.
DeleteWhere K&C's Tories are concerned Julie Mills was head and shoulders above most of that shower.
It would be nice if Ian Henderson could make a comeback soon. He was another one that was a casualty of Dent Coad's Trotskyist infiltration in to the local Labour Party. She thought she was riding the Corbynite crest of a wave and then she took a big fall when Starmer banned her for racism. Good people like Ian should have been "shafted."
DeleteI doubt that Ian would want to make a comeback after a criminal political faction put an explosive device through his letterbox.
DeleteNot sure about working hard in K&C but Cllr Graham seems to have been working hard for MP's in a way that is causing concern....Open Democracy writes"MPs have claimed more than £1m on expenses for private spin doctors and PR agencies, openDemocracy can reveal.In the past three years, at least 140 MPs have used taxpayers’ money to outsource media and communications work to private firms, totalling £1.1m. This comes on top of the budget available to every MP to employ their own official advRules state that expenses can only be used for “parliamentary functions” and taxpayer cash must not be used to help MPs win elections. But we found evidence that expenses claims are not being checked thoroughly – and that regulators are not even clear about what is permitted.It leaves open the possibility that expenses could be improperly used to help promote sitting MPs in the next election. Several MPs who have billed taxpayers for private media services have gone on to post social media content promoting Conservative Party policies and supporting Rishi Sunak’s leadership campaign.One of the biggest agencies, Millbank Creative, charges up to £1,250 a month to enhance the “personal brand” of MPs – and says that payments can be “taken automatically” from MPs’ expenses.The company was set up during the pandemic while its founder, Stuart Graham, was moonlighting as an adviser for a Conservative MP – although it was not listed in his parliamentary register of interests.Records show that at least £81,000 of fees to Millbank Creative were put on expenses by Conservative MPs in the three years up to July 2022.But the true amount could be far higher, as some politicians don’t provide company names in their spending returns. Instead, the details of many claims are hidden in receipts and invoices that are not routinely published by the parliamentary regulator and are only available individually under the Freedom of Information Act.
ReplyDeleteIs there no-one left in the Conservative Party who has a clue about politics?
ReplyDelete1) Norland By-election: Tory abuse of the electoral process and oh – what’s that, “Cash for Councillors”? – THis Is North Kensington https://thisisnorthkensington.wordpress.com/2024/03/24/norland-by-electionconservative-abuse-of-the-electoral-process-and-oh-whats-that-cash-for-councillors/
2) Rishi Sunak rewards Tory friends with Easter honours list https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdB-md2Ngho That's Times Radio but if you prefer LBC Is Rishi Sunak 'abusing' the UK honours system? |https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UL8HAYRAsw
So, it might seem that Cllr Graham might be the subject of a parliamentary investigation. Is that why he headed out of Norland fast
ReplyDeleteGood idea to bring back Cllr. Henderson & Mills as well as Press . But there are others ( eg former Cllrs Nadia Nail & even Atkinson ) who were removed in the Corbyn purge who may still have something to offer the, ever diminishing, pool of talent at Hornton st.?
ReplyDeleteAnd lets not forget those Cllrs. who went without appropriate ceremony at the end of their term ( Blakeman, Healy, Mason and Williams) . None of them had any responsibility for the horror of Grenfell but all have been denied the recognition they deserve for their decades of public service by being created Aldermen. None of them is getting any younger so isn't it time for Campbell to stop dithering and get on with it ? Yes there are a couple of dodgy Tory ex- councillors who could yet be indicted by the Grenfell Inquiry over whom delay remains appropriate.But surely this is no-longer any reason to keep Blakeman , Mills , Mason etc. waiting for their 'gongs' ?
Not sure that gongs are the way to go 13.10. But there does need to be some sort of suitable valediction for Henderson, Mills, Press, Nadia, Nail and Atkinson as they did so much to help others in the local community.
ReplyDeleteThe "Corbyn purge" has a lot to answer for - I'll give you that.
You quite rightly point out that none of the councillors you mention were in any way "responsible" for the horrors of Grenfell and the Labour ones were disgracefully cast aside by the hard left.
Can you answer one point for another hornet?
Do you remember what Sam Gymiah said about Emma Dent Coad over Grenfell? As he was not prosecuted, is it safe to say that there must have been something in what he said but, as I say, I cannot remember what he said that caused such high dudgeon. Thanks, ever so, if you can enlighten me.
Corbynistas were on a roll in K&C Labour during the Corbyn era. Now they are out in the cold.
DeleteCannot help - sorry. But its odd that Mrs Dent repeatedly blamed the Lib Dems for her loss of Parliamentary office . Surely the greatest causes of her defeat were her refusal , for fear of crossing Jeremy , to defend the European Union in this most cosmopolitan of constituencies AND her poor record of doing actual casework for her constituents .
ReplyDeleteI agree with you but look at 07.21 below. Gosh!
DeleteThe country overwhelmingly rejected Corbynism. Many Labour voters, throughout the Country, voted Lib Dem instead of Labour and it seems that Labour voters in Kensington did likewise.
EDC's poor record on casework and ignoring correspondence was cause for complaint with the many.
@21.56.
DeleteEDC was very calculating with her position on Europe. She gave the impression to Kensington voters that she was a solid Remainer and I liked that about her. But she was conflicted and her nauseating loyalty to Jeremy Corbyn won over. At least Starmer stayed true to his Remain position and he refused to back down when Corbyn's irascible hallmark was evident.
What was the name of the Remain Think Tank that refused to endorse Emma Dent Coad despite her making all the right noises about remaining in the EU?
Was she the only MP they refused to endorse as having rock solid Remain credentials?
There is a very good account of the spat between Dent Coad and Gymiah in The Belfast Telegraph. Here is the link for you to read and form a view:-
ReplyDeletehttps://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/emma-dent-coad-reports-general-election-rival-sam-gyimah-to-police/38700827.html
This is my take.
Emma Dent Coad was outraged at Gymiah's comment which alleged that she was “on the council and was part of all the discussions that went on in terms of (Grenfell) cladding”.
Ms Dent Coad said,
“To be clear, I was on the (Tenant Management Organisation) Board when the principle of refurbishing Grenfell Tower was discussed, but I was nowhere near the decision-making process for the detailed specifications for refurbishing Grenfell which started when I left."
Dent Coad's comment is true about her membership of the TMO Board ending when it did. Her comments about the TMO's decisions which she had nothing to do with are also entirely true. So her complaint about what Gymiah said seems justified at face value.
But was Gyimah lying? I think this is a moot point and the whole thing is open to debate over any uncertainty.
Gyimah referred to Dent Coad being on the COUNCIL (not the TMO.) She was on the Council when the Grenfell Tower refurbishment took place and that is an undeniable fact.
It seems that Gymiah was talking about something different to what Dent Coad focused win when she complained to the police.
I could be wrong AND IF I AM WRONG I APOLOGISE but I sincerely believe that what I am saying is fair comment and here is my interpretation of what Gymiah was talking about. I think Dent Coad was on a Council Housing Committee which may have scrutinised or reviewed matters connected with Grenfell's refurbishment. If memory serves me well, she later argued that she did not attend the committee meeting at which Grenfell's cladding and refurbishment was discussed. I have no reason to doubt her veracity over being absent on that occasion.
I am certain that Dent Coad would have known about the Grenfell Action Group's contentious and valid representations over the refurbishment. The Dame and the Action Group ran several blog spots about it. She would have been able to read the minutes of the meeting at which she was absent and develop any points she considered important thereafter either in the Council chamber and if necessary in the media.
So Gymiah did not "lie."
DeleteHe was just better at politicking and Emma did not like that.
Fancy wasting the time of the police with this - as if policing London wasn't hard enough.
DeleteI think that must be correct 07.21. It would have been a different kettle of fish if Mr Gymiah had said that Ms Dent Coad was on the "TMO" when the decisions about cladding were made. That would have been a barefaced lie.
Delete12.11. "He was just better at politicking than Emma" point taken.
When Dent Coad reported Gymiah to the police she knew perfectly well the difference between the TMO and the Council. Above all else, she understood what Gymiah meant.
DeleteFrom the day of the Grenfell Tower fire, she went to extraordinary lengths to put as much distance between herself and the Grenfell fire.
Making a big fuss about what Gymiah said was part of her "calculating strategy" to reinforce in the mind of every Kensington voter that she was not directly involved in any decisions about Grenfell's refurbishment or cladding. What better way to make an impact statement than to report Gymiah to the police. a very calculating woman.
This is what happens when you report a high profile politician to the police and make a lot of fuss about doing so. The rationale - the publicity can do me, the victim, no harm. It is all a bit too embarrassing to climb down publicly and tell everyone that the police found no crime had been committed.
DeleteI suppose that Emma Dent Coad eventually had to apologise to Sam Gymiah for wrongfully grassing him up to The Old Bill. If she did that, can you imagine how her tongue would have been wound up in her knicker elastic.
DeleteIt would be good if Mr Sam Gymiah came back to Kensington to campaign for the Lib Dem candidate when General Election is called.
DeleteMs. Dent Coad claimed that he did for her the last time round so it would be good of he could do the same for us again. And as Ms Dent Coad is so adamant that Gymiah cost her the election, more of the same should be a breeze.
We could then get the goods on that complaint that Ms Dent Coad made to the police straight from the horse's mouth.
All this is so much water under the bridge - what we should be focussing on now if the current contest between Joe Powell & Felicity Buchan . Both are working hard but the new boy Powell seems to be building up a winning coalition . The mad left of the Labour Party has , both locally & nationally been completely trounced & the Conservatives are fragmenting ever more each day. In displaying loyalty to each Tory leader in succession Felicity seems determined only to hang on without any beliefs or vision of her own.
ReplyDeleteJoe Powell is a superior candidate to EDC. It will not do him any harm if the bad politics of EDC are revisited now and throughout the election campaign so that voters are reminded about her sins of the past.
DeleteEDC, by standing, is determined to split the left of centre vote. She wants to do down Labour and that means Joe Powell. By her standing in this election, there may well be a victory for the Lib Dems or the Tories; in all probability the Tories.
It would be poetic justice if the Lib Dems won.Can you imagine EDC's reaction? It would be too much of a cross for her to bear.
By throwing her toys out of the pram and standing against a Labour man, she may by way of unintended consequences have actively helped the Lib Dems to win - the Party that she detests so much and, ever since I have known her, always vilified.
Nonsence. The Lib Dems have never stood any chance of taking either Kensington or Chelsea . The way to defeat the Tories is to vote for the excellent candidates ( Powell & Coleman) that Labour is proposing for this Year's Parliamentary elections
ReplyDelete