Lib Dem PPC Blasts Her Own Party’s “Bullsh*t”

Following my earlier article about Lib Dem PPCs jumping ship this choice story has been sent to me. Yet another PPC is unhappy with her own national leadership and their tactics. Cllr Sally Morgan the Lib Dem PPC for Central Devon lost her Devon County Council seat (althougfh she remains a Cllr on Teignbridge DC) on 4^th June to a Conservative landslide in the south west of England. Unfortunately crass “apparatchiks” in Lib Dem national HQ sent her and other members emails trying to spin the line that the elections were a Lib Dem triumph and asking for more money.

Sally’s email has been leaked to the media and reads as follows:

Dear Cowley St and Campaigns Dept.

Please do not employ apparatchiks to telephone me at home to tell me how well the party did in the local elections only days after I and many of my colleagues lost our seats.

I do not appreciate being told how the public decided to teach Gordon brown a lesson nor that a General Election is around the corner and we have never been in a better position.

I no longer subscribe to that particular variety of bull****.

I was particularly taken aback to be asked if I would make a substantial donation and increase my standing order. Is that not the equivalent of frisking a mugging victim for any more pickings?

The party has benefited from several thousand pounds of my money as well as my blood, sweat and tears and yet the Party chooses to spend such money on employing ‘organisers’ whose sole purpose it seems is to forward centrally-generated emails that I have already received.

I would happily save the Party thousands of pounds a year by offering the services of my 11-year-old daughter who would be more than capable of performing such tasks for the price of a tenner and a few bags of Haribo cola bottles.

They obviously do little else as I have not seen sight nor sound of such organisers for many, many months despite being a Parliamentary Candidate.

Perhaps the Party thinks PPCs who are councillors and Mothers have not time for such fripperies. The lack of support would lead me to believe so.

For that reason I’ve cancelled my, already generous, standing order and when my membership expires in October the Party can sing for it.

Yours, with b***** all left to lose.

Sally

It looks like the party has now leant on her as she is now back-tracking slightly from the threat in the email but clearly all is not well with yet another Lib Dem PPC.

Cutting the Number of Reading Councillors

Last night the Corporate Community and External Affairs (CCEA) Scrutiny Panel discussed a paper that had been presented by Independent Councillor Tony Jones. Essentially he was suggesting that a review be conducted of the number of Councillors and the frequency of elections. At present Reading has 46 Councillors and holds elections by thirds every year, with a “fallow year” every fourth year.

The paper highlighted that having 16 fewer Councillors would generate an annual saving of £131,520 on the basic allowance and that was not counting any additional allowances claimed or a reduction in staffing support that may follow. Local elections cost about £150,000 to run, with national elections costs being reclaimable from central Government. Thus reducing the frequency of elections could add significant additional savings.  Against this had to be weighed the cost of preparing for a boundary review, which would be necessary due to the single member Mapledurham ward, which would stop the review just cutting Councillors from 3 to 2 in each ward.

Cllr Tony Jones presented the paper to the panel and argued strongly that whilst many Councillors of all parties worked hard, there were some that did not. He argued that an internal review would inform the submission to the Electoral Commission that would have to be made in due course and generate an early debate involving local residents.

Conservative Group Leader Andrew Cumpsty spoke strongly in favour of a review and his personal support for all-out elections every four years. Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Benson spoke against, arguing that none of her constituents were calling for this. Several Labour Councillors voiced their opposition to the proposal and any cut in their numbers. They also rejected the assertion that some Councillors were not pulling their weight. I pointed out that with politicians generally being held in low esteem a cut in our number and the consequent cost savings would probably be very popular and that many other authorities had all-out elections and a larger number of constituents per elected Councillor.

The eventual vote saw Conservatives siding with Cllr Tony Jones in calling for a review, while Labour voted against and the Lib Dems (as usual) abstained. A formal paper will now be presented to the full Council proposing that a review takes place.

Another Lib Dem PPC Quits

The Lib Dems are earning themselves a reputation for the flakiness of their Parliamentary candidates, as yet another PPC has quit the role. Cllr Stuart Currie who is deputy Leader of East Lothian Council as well as candidate for the Lib Dem target seat of Aberdeen South has resigned and is said to be considering quitting the party.

Only a few weeks ago Norsheen Bhatti the Lib Dem PPC for Chelsea and Fulham, quit the party with an attack on Nick Clegg’s leadership and then joined the Conservatives. Oddly, Paul Moss the Lib Dem PPC for Denton and Reddish quit to join Labour. That followed the resignations of James Keeley as PPC for Skipton and Ripon and Stephen Tweedie as PPC for Carlisle.

Inevitably one or two PPCs of any party will not stay the course but this close to a likely General Election it is surprising that so many selected candidates are quitting the Lib Dems. It suggests that there is a feeling of hopelessness at the prospects they face and a sense of drift under Nick Cleggs’ leadership.

Meanwhile the Conservatives have welcomed another defector TO the party, with the news that Cllr Alan Dobbie has become the first Conservative Councillor on Haringey Council, after leaving the Labour Party. It is significant that he chose to join the Conservatives after a lifetime as a Labour member rather than the Lib Dems who are the main opposition on Haringey.