Boris Johnson has announced his new Top Team of eight Deputy Mayors. The heavyweight roles focus on job creation, transport and the police-and a young lady gets education and culture. However, there is appointment that deserves closer scrutiny. It is none other than our very own councillor for Queensgate Ward, the chronically unpopular Daniel Moylan.
 |
| Mayor Johnson and his friend Moylan |
Moylan is tasked with delivering the "Olympic Park Legacy" and advising on a third London airport. His recent and notable gaffe of proposing an airport in the Thames Estuary at the precise spot of maximum danger for flying aircraft was pounced on by Air Traffic Controllers and pilots.
Chief Executives making appointments at this level typically look at track record, ability to work as a team member, and whether it is a "staff" or "line" appointment. And this is the conundrum.
Moylan gets up everyone's nose and causes huge dissent amongst colleagues and staff. His track record in K&C includes quite a few 'white elephants' (the Sloane Square debacle, pink granite from China to tart up Exhibition Road at a cost of £30 million and stainless steel "streetscapes"). His chance to do damage as Deputy Chairman of Tfl was short-lived and he has sensibly been moved on. His private interest Property Companies that dabbled in London development have languished or been wound up so not much success track record there. The Dame has reproduced the Private Eye article focusing on this.
Moylan gets up everyone's nose and causes huge dissent amongst colleagues and staff. His track record in K&C includes quite a few 'white elephants' (the Sloane Square debacle, pink granite from China to tart up Exhibition Road at a cost of £30 million and stainless steel "streetscapes"). His chance to do damage as Deputy Chairman of Tfl was short-lived and he has sensibly been moved on. His private interest Property Companies that dabbled in London development have languished or been wound up so not much success track record there. The Dame has reproduced the Private Eye article focusing on this.
So what is the new job Boris has fixed for Moylan? The Mayor wants to hit the right balance between new homes and jobs with the Olympic Park after the games are over. Other recent examples (Greece and China) have shown that this is a notoriously difficult task. The domain knowledge is in the private sector and they will need to be coaxed, flattered, cajoled and inspired: skills that sit badly with Moylan. And there is an even bigger puzzle. It is said that Moylan will get paid more for his demoted job than the £115k a year he took as part time Deputy Chairman at Tfl.
So let us suppose Moylan bargained hard and persuaded Johnson to pay him £130k for his new job. With his near £11k from K&C and his £18k for remaining a board member of TfL Moylan COULD be on nearly £160,000 a year! Not bad for a local councillor.....
We need Cllr Moylan to contradict us and come clean about the totality of all his taxpayer funded positions.
We need Cllr Moylan to contradict us and come clean about the totality of all his taxpayer funded positions.
But the real question for taxpayers is whether it is appropriate for the Mayor to be handing out jobs to friends with no real job experience. Boris Johnson has a calamitous track record in appointing people he then ends up having to fire for not being up to the job. Let us hope Moylan is not another casualty of the Mayor's poor judgment. And K&C residents should wonder whether they will be getting any value from their absentee councillor.
This cannot be right. The man has never held down a proper job
ReplyDeleteI smell a rat. Moylan has clearly been "parked" in City Hall at huge cost. Why? Could it be that Cllr Cockell is calling in a favour from the Mayor?
ReplyDeleteAgainst great opposition from Officers and fellow Councillors Pooter insisted on many parking spaces in K&C for the Mayor's mad bike scheme. The scheme has just been expanded.
Every paid meter bay that K&C gives up for the bikes cost £100k per year of lost car parking revenue. And we already know that each bike cost tax payers £3,000 (to cover the cost of the bike and infrastructure) and the operating cost requires a tax payer subsidy of £1000 per bike per year.
Pooter wanted Moylan out of the way so that he can continue for another year (unchallenged) as Leader of K&C. How convenient for Moylan to be "parked" in City Hall.
Politics sometimes (often) goes too far
When I wanted to get rid of a bad egg senior executive (and there all sorts of reasons why it is sometimes inconvenient to fire them) a tried and tested route is to bump up their pay and give them an impossible job. After a time they leave of their own accord.
ReplyDeleteIts called the poisoned chalice
What bunk this whole post is. Cllr Moylan is an outstanding intellect and a superb results getter. He does not tolerate fools.
ReplyDeleteThe Mayor clearly recognises this and has given his Deputy a key portfolio
Calm down 9.22
ReplyDeleteWASP is full of conspiracy ideas, but we should not forget that Moylan badly wants to be Leader of K&C and only lost to Cockell by the Chairman's casting vote when they went head to head for the job fourteen years ago.
Pooter hates conflict and badly wanted to defy gravity and hang on for another year. Incredibly he has pulled it off
Cockell only hangs on for another year as Leader because the pathetic Tory Councillors are too much in awe of their SRA's and hoped for SRA's to boot him out.
ReplyDeleteSick Town Hall
Maybe Cockell has even more leverage over Boris than the Dame has let on.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, Boris stated many times that he "would never allow school playing fields in London to be sold off for housing developments". But after he was invited to visit Holland Park School by Cllr Cockell the Mayor mysteriously decided that he would not oppose the sale of the Holland Park School playground.
And there is still murky business being pursued by Pooter to get TfL to build a Crossrail Station in North Kensington (Kensal Station has already been renamed Portobello Station)
ReplyDeleteConvenient to move a sitting K&C Councillor out of the Deputy Chairman's job at TfL
Watch this space
9.36 are you suggesting that there might have been a conflict of interest if Moylan stayed on as Deputy Chairman of TfL?
ReplyDeleteMoylan is still young. At 56 he can easily afford to wait another year before standing as Leader of K&C.
ReplyDeleteThe declared opposition (Ahern and Coleridge) is underwhelming
The Dame knows that you are Cllr Moylan's split personality.It is very poor form to make these personal tributes to yourself. But let us analyse your self-view....
ReplyDeleteYou say you have a superb intellect? So why have you not succeeded in national politics?
The fact that you were never selected for any seat rather puts paid to that claim. Only a fool upsets those he works with to the extent he alienates those who could be invaluable to him:it's called lousy leadership and extreme folly.
Now tell us about the 'results' you have achieved. You mean your most monumental blunder inciting just about everybody to object to your plans for Sloane Sq? Nothing much else comes to mind in terms of successful outcomes.....
The Dame runs too many personal campaigns against people that she (he?) does not like. You do not have to like the people that you work with. It is results that matter. And Moylan gets results. In spades.
ReplyDeleteIf you look across the Tory Councillors in Kensington and Chelea, in the main you see a bunch of also rans, never was, and never will be. Moylan stands head and shoulders above the pack
All of these conspiracy theories! Its like bad television.
ReplyDeleteDo not forget that Stephen Greenhalgh is the senior Deputy Mayor at City Hall. An accomplished jungle fighter who shafted Cllr Cockell and obtained the Crossrail Station for Hammersmith, making sure that Cockell and his hot air were left high and dry in North Kensington.
Even though Greenhalgh is no longer Leader of Hammersmith, there is no chance that he will allow TfL to change their mind about his station in Hammersmith. High achievers don't allow insects to mess with their legacy.
10:35
ReplyDeleteThe Dame asked a question....
what are the 'results' Cllr Moylan has achieved? Stop prevaricating and answer the question.
To me the Dame has done a great service exposing this council
People in public life should "make a difference". Moylan has made a difference in Kensington and Chelsea. No question about that.
ReplyDeleteIf the Dame does not like the difference that Moylan has made then boot him out. Make your point at the next Council Elections by standing against him in Queensgate Ward and let the voters decide
The Dame has coming up to 100,0000 unique visitors. She is a powerful influence for good.
ReplyDeleteCorrupt practices endemic in the Rotten Borough have nearly ceased and the Dame is a brake on the worst excess of Cockell and Moylan. She achieves far more as an outsider. Of course, it would be far more convenient to certain councillors to have the Dame close to hand, but she is far too wily an old bird to fall for that little trap! No, the Dame will continue to expose and embarrass from outside the council chamber.
The only difference Moylan has made is becoming the highest paid councillor in the UK!
12.09 trots out the same old cherry. "Stand against me at election and let the voters decide".
ReplyDeleteTripe.
It works in a democracy. But in K&C which has been reduced to become the private fiefdom of Cockell and Co, residents have become so apathetic, disillusioned and disinterested that 70% don't vote at all. In the South of the Borough a rump votes Conservative on autopilot and in the North an outraged group of voters from the poorest Wards in Britain regularly return Labour. Unfortunately it is an empty protest and makes not a jot of difference to the Trophy spending in the Town Hall (Exhibition Rd, Holland Park School, "streetscapes" et al)
Until the Dame came along we had a bunch of self indulgent Councillors, out of sight and out of mind, troughing to excess
I see that Mathew Carrington has been voted in as Chairman of K&C Conservatives.
ReplyDeleteMathew has a good head on his shoulders and is fully appraised about all the nonsense that goes on in Hornton Street and the knock on effect for democracy in the Borough
Can we hope for a "wind of change?"
Good going for a bus drivers son from Birmingham. And an Irishman to boot. £160k per year (plus gold plated pension) with no risk and no responsibility and no accountability.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!
This will no doubt result in a whole new wave of party spending in the fleshpots of Thailand
Conservatives in Queensgate Ward are grateful to have a person of Cllr Moylan's energy, determination and drive representing them. He would make a good Leader. Maybe not perfect. But what are the alternatives? Ahern? Coleridge?
ReplyDeleteWake up Dame
From what I understand the Dame is very awake to Cllr Moylan's interesting personal history. If you have sense you will not encourage her to lift up that particular stone.
ReplyDeleteCllr Moylan did not get selected as a K&C PPC because of arrogance: it was something rather different.....
I don't think you will do him any favours by opening that can of worms.
Moylan is an Irish windbag...
ReplyDeleteHe has been deputy leader and proved to be useless.
A posh Borough like our needs a gent running the show-Coleridge fits the bill. We certainly don't want an Irish thug running things
What complete and utter tosh I read in some of the comments above (including outright snobbery).
ReplyDeleteYes Moylan may be 'clever', but he's rude, obnoxious and a terrible bully. He actually enjoys 'taking people down' and relishes the aftermath as people crumple. He is a total sadist who has brought male officers to tears.
Combine that with a total lack of any sensitivity to those less fortunate among us, plus a wad of cash to spend as he pleases, and you get a very dangerous, unpleasant and shifty character.
K&C would take on such a man as Leader at their peril.
Mark this; one day his past and present predilections will be exposed, and it will be far worse than anyone can imagine.
Does anyone know if Boris knows about all this stuff?
ReplyDeleteColeridge and Ahern are dead sheep.
ReplyDeleteOr dead poodles?
ReplyDeleteThe Dame has noticed a number of anti Irish comments. Please stop. Also references to issues in Moylan's personal past.
ReplyDeleteMoylan's personal life is his own business so let's not go down the road of defamation.
so the Dame knows about Moylan's time in Africa......tell us dear dame
ReplyDeleteIs Moylan still pushing the South Ken Tube monstrosity? He has done enough trying to turn the area into Picaddilly circus perhaps we can be spared ~ what would his costituents think ~
ReplyDelete