The poor chap now has an annualised £250,000's worth of non executive directorships... in addition to the £70,000 he gets as an absentee MP.
With that lucrative workload insolent constituents should not whine about having to trudge to the Commons to see him.
But there is a more worrying aspect to all this.
When you have such a volume of work serious judgmental errors will occur.
And Malc will remember one such embarrassing error of judgment, carefully obscured by time....
Some years ago Malc served Australian mining monster,BHP.
BHP was found to have sought a meeting with New York representatives of horrible Saddam Hussein.
It seems Sir Malc himself was slated to attend the meeting( to discuss oil deals) though he later said his name on the proposed attendance was due to 'secretarial negligence'.
Malc's unenthusiastic attitude toward his constituents is in stark contrast to his neighbour, Greg Hands.
Hands has a very 'hands on' approach to his constituency work....loads of surgeries and a rather good blog.
Maybe he could spend a weekend tutoring Malc in the basics of how to be a stalwart champion of constituents?
Currently, he seems to pay just lip service to us.
She will also be extending the same opportunity to the Lib Dem candidate, Robin McGhee...
Kensington has had this problem for a long time. The last person who even attempted to represent the electorate was the unpleasant Alan Clark, and that was quite a while back. Why do we get such disinterested MPs?
ReplyDeleteBrandon Rhys Williams seems to have been the last decent MP.
DeleteDudley Fishburn was the last decent one - but he was utterly useless in his role. Although holding surgeries, he did not understand how to deal with the simplest of concerns - and unlike Sir Malcolm, did not have a good office to cover his back. He was indeed a "fish out of water" and stood down happily after his one period of office (from the by-election in 1988 following the death of Sir Brandon).
DeleteDear Sir Malcolm,
ReplyDeleteThe claim about surgeries surprised me.
I recall having to meet you at the Commons, not locally.
Do you, in fact, hold regular local surgeries?
When are these held?
If you do not, can you explain why please?
Thank you for your message. I am happy to respond.
I held conventional surgeries in Kensington for several years. As other MPs have discovered, the traditional format is very inconvenient for constituents. When people arrive, in a hall or school, they often have to wait until those in front of them have completed their business.
I decided to replace the queue of people waiting with specific appointments where constituents would be sure to see me at the time arranged, in comfortable surroundings and with a cup of tea or coffee on offer.
Kensington , as you know, stretches from Fulham Road to the top of Ladbroke Grove. Wherever surgeries are held there is a need for some travel which can often take time.
I, therefore, decided to offer meetings in my House of Commons office . This has been an unqualified success. I have not had any criticism (apart from Hornets Nest!) . My constituents are met, and their problem addressed, punctually and in comfort .
So far as the wider comments of Hornets Nest are concerned, I am in the House of Commons most days of the week, as I am this morning. Being a London member I am able to attend meetings in Kensington during the week which I often do. I shall be happy to subject myself, and my performance on their behalf, to the verdict of my constituents in a few week’s time at the General Election.
Do let me know if you would like to discuss this further.
Kind regards
Malcolm Rifkind
Dear Malcolm,
DeleteFew in your constituency mind if you are a self serving scumbag who puts his own financial enrichment before the needs of your constituents. As for you subjecting yourself to the verdict of your constituents, if you put Harold Shipman up for election as the Conservative candidate in your constituency he would walk it.
So no need to defend your greed and self-enrichment as a public servant, celebrate it, and your constituents will support your opportunism with you.
Hats off to the MP for engaging with Hornet bloggers and explaining his approach to being a Kensington representative. Suffice it to say that no other MP chooses to behave in this way and summons constituents to the obstacle race that has become the Westminster experience. And the travel and effort (with a tiny chance of the contact making any difference) puts most people off. So Malc has to spend very little time with those he considers a nuisance. He needs to take a Master Class from the Fulham and Chelsea Tory MP who knows how to behave.
DeleteAnd the big issue - the perception of Rifkind as MP for Kensington is dreadful. There is not a single campaign or issue that is of interest to Kensington residents that he is known to have been associated with or taken a lead with.
Shocking, shocking
My congratulations to Malcolm Rifkind on putting Conservative values into practice. He stands as a great example of everything this Government stands for following in the footsteps of Reginald Maudling and Jonathan Aitken.
ReplyDeleteI must take exception to the outrageous slur against Sir Malcolm Rifkind. It is totally ridiculous to put him in the same category as Maudling and Aitken, as because of his elected position he has made much more money than either of them ever did.
DeleteIt's about time we elected local MPs who actually care about the area. Time for someone of the caliber of former RBKC leader Sir Merrick Cockell to step forward.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot be serious!! Replacing one greed bugger with another does not makes sense
DeleteThe guy needs to be deselected by the Conservative Association. They are failing residents by allowing this free loader to continue as our representative
ReplyDeleteMalcolm Rifkind must think we are sufficiently naive to be be impressed by his throwaway..." I shall be happy to subject myself, and my performance on their behalf, to the verdict of my constituents in a few week’s time at the General Election"
ReplyDeleteThis is facile as Stephen Timms, Labour, East Ham, with a majority of 28,000, claiming the same- as if his performance might lead him to be unseated.
Malcolm, you represent some fairly shrewd constituents.
They know full well the impossibility of serving constituents effectively when you hold down several non exec directorships, plus the chairmanship of an important Commons committee.
The Hornets Nest would make the same critique were it a Labour MP whose main source of income was directors' fees. That is why the Dame commends Greg Hands to you.
Now that the Conservatives have an office in North Kensington, Sir Malcolm can easily hold regular surgeries there. Residents can wait in the warmth and be served a cup of tea as and when necessary. All the North Kensington councillors hold surgeries without any problems.
ReplyDeleteHow on earth is the very grand Sir Malc expected to find his way to an industrial site in North Kensington? The whole tone and style of the Conservative ethic would be wrecked. Wise up man.....
DeleteThe Labour and Lib Dem candidates do not "look" like Kensington types. They need the "Kensington look". Another lost opportunity.
ReplyDeleteThere is no 'Kensington look' 12.58. That is the glory of Kensington.
ReplyDeleteWe need someone who is intelligent, caring, competent, and willing to do the hard work of representing Kensington residents. And that's it.
Agreed...it's not a fashion parade
Delete