The Dame decided to give prominence to this interesting comment from the ever shrewd Scribe...who is Scribe: he/she seems well plugged in.....
Lets not be too negative about the new Cabinet. Give them a chance. They won't set the world on fire but may be able to bumble along in a reasonably sensible way.
Cllr Gardener is a person of integrity and is very resident friendly.
Just like Cllr Coleridge who now knows that he has blown his Leadership chances and therefore is beholden to no one except his residents. Again, a person of integrity who does not need his SRA.
Mary Weale is a plodder. She lost her job and now has no prospect of Westminster (which she wanted very badly) so maybe she will buckle down and start to read her briefs. Recent experience as Chairman of the Health Committee suggests that she is more focused on Council business these days.
Julie Mills is an ace and....
Cllr Lightfoot is experienced although he is probably short term until he makes it as an MEP. On the debit side.....
Cllr Campbell is a lightweight....
.....and Cllr Mellen is dead wood.
But every administration has its calamities.
But every administration has its calamities.
Weatherhead and Warwick at Planning are ballast and the rest are untested.
Oh Cllr Ahern? The Jury continues to be out. He pledged as Planning Chief to make the Planning system more resident friendly but failed abysmally - even though his ambition and articulation were spot on.
On the Officer side a new Chief Executive is expected so the review is on about Myers' favourites. The boring Mr Bore (Planning Director) knows that he is on borrowed time. Councillors say that the Planning No 2 is even worse than Bore so the Leader needs to start his search for an outside appointment.
The whole apparatus needs to try and engage with the Ward Councillors and the Resident Association Chairmen more effectively. Forces of nature like Amanda Frame at the Kensington Society need to be listened to.
On the Officer side a new Chief Executive is expected so the review is on about Myers' favourites. The boring Mr Bore (Planning Director) knows that he is on borrowed time. Councillors say that the Planning No 2 is even worse than Bore so the Leader needs to start his search for an outside appointment.
The whole apparatus needs to try and engage with the Ward Councillors and the Resident Association Chairmen more effectively. Forces of nature like Amanda Frame at the Kensington Society need to be listened to.
And the younger group of Conservative Councillors are pissed off by the mediocrity of Cllr Paget-Brown's Cabinet so that little time bomb is ticking away.
All in all, it could be a good prospect.
Reply
All in all, it could be a good prospect.
More BS from the Hornet. Delete "Conservative" and replace it with "Labour"
ReplyDeletePalmer....back in your box...by the way can you tell us who got into trouble for making a huge number of phone calls to Oz from Manor St some years ago and forced to pay back £500
Delete"Well pugged in..." Dame? Where is the dog?
ReplyDeleteThe Dame has some very nosey little pugs...hence pugged in
DeleteScribe is too kind. The calamities are Mellen, Weatherhead and Warwick. The true dynamics were that an uncertain and frightened prospective Leader, uncertain of his strength, went to the weakest councillors (Weatherhead and Warwick)and promised them office in return for their vote. After the first round vote, with two runner ups (Moylan and Mellen), Paget-Brown saw his opportunity to promise Mellen the Deputy Leader position in return for his agreeing to withdraw. This is the grubby end of politics.
ReplyDeletePaget-Brown played his cards, got his Leadership, and residents are lumbered with three totally unsuitable individuals in the Administration. There are others who deserve the positions.
But it could be worse.
Yes, Moylan as leader and Mellen as deputy....
DeleteWe must at least congratulate Cllr Paget Brown for his good sense in avoiding Moylan.
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate that Miss Weatherhead has accepted a cabinet post. She has been a fine councillor and age comes to us all. Beckham knows when to bow out gracefully, with thanks from all.
Cllr Ahern dislikes the peasantry.
Having seen Cllr Warwick in action, it does not augur well.
The problems in Planning will not be solved by removing a couple of senior officers. The situation is far too serious. It will take a true revolution.
It's very odd how socially disadvantaged Irishmen like Ahern and Moylan get very up themselves when money and a little bit of power propel them up the social scale. Ahern's parents managed to scrape the money together to get the boy to Ampleforth. There he found that he was rather looked down on as being a bit 'bog'....luckily he married a very pushy coppers's daughter who made bags of money in the City....lucky old Tim was made and then Phillipa gave him the keys of their grand house when she got tired of him!
ReplyDeleteMoylan is the same. Very modest background, but after being pushed by the dodgy Brothers of the Oratory and some judicious elocution lessons lost the Birmingham accent and the rest is history
Nothing is more telling or tedious than the endless comments on the background of various councillors. It's all so 19th century. Eton, Oxford and the Bullingdon Club are likely to be the reason
ReplyDeleteD Cameron failed to achieve a majority in a 21st century general election.
I made the comment at 10.37. The issues are the current failings of certain cabinet members, not whether their families appear in the Doomsday Book.
Perhaps the debate can now turn to Planning. Plenty to discuss.
Cllr Weatherhead is not in the Cabinet; she is chairman of the Regulation and Enforcement Committee - a very minor post that merely looks at who is allowed to have tables and chairs outside their premises - it is a sinecure indeed - to keep her happy until her retirement next year.
ReplyDeleteIt was never claimed she was in the Cabinet: just that she had been 'looked after'
DeleteIt's crazy looking after people like her at the expense of the up and coming.
Cllr Moylan is undergoing one huge sulk. He has told friends that he is stunned that nothing came his way after the Cabinet shake up. He is also furious about some of the lightweight and brain dead appointments.
ReplyDeleteFly On The Wall, there is some good news. Cllr Palmer is well and truly buried. Not a sign of his name on any single list. He is wild and distrusted by his colleagues. One of those sheltered by Cockell who is no more for this life. A UKIP prospect perhaps?
Delete