The Lady Doth Protest Too Much?

Did you happen to see this morning's (Sunday) "AM" show on BBC1? Since Andrew Marr is on holiday the programme was guest presented by Huw Edwards. He interviewed Deputy Labour Leader Harriet Harman live from Warwick, where Labour glitterati have this weekend assembled for their National Policy Forum at Warwick University. You can read the BBC's transcript of the interview here.

Huw Edwards was trying to get Ms Harman to admit that the party itself was tired of losing elections - Crewe and Nantwich, London Mayoral, and this week Glasgow East - and that there was a general feeling that Prime Minister Brown had become something of a liability; a Jonah without whose removal the party's fortunes would be unlikely to change.

And for ten minutes, viewers were treated to the unedifying spectacle of Ms Harman claiming that the Labour party's growing slump in the polls was due to the credit crunch; the price of oil; the rising cost of food. But not the Labour government. She asked for action by the banks, by the utility companies, by the supermarkets. She blamed the international community. But not the Labour government.

The most transparently cynical theme running through the entire interview was her unwillingness to admit that the Labour Party generally, and Gordon Brown specifically, had lost the confidence of a nation.

And that in the queue of would-be replacements beginning to sharpen their steely knives, Ms Harriet Harman was widely tipped as being front of the queue.

Margaret at the helm

On July 20th I wrote a posting which speculated on the potential leadership contenders vying for Chairmanship of the Local Government Association now that Sir Simon Milton, former Chairman and Leader of Westminster City Council, had stood down to become Boris Johnson's number two.

When I was at the LGA last week, speculation and rumours were rife, and the number of potential candidates was as varied as the opinions on their suitability.

I hoped that Margaret Eaton, (former leader of Bradford Metropolitan District Council and last year's LGA Conservative Group leader) would stand, and so I'm really pleased to see from Local Government Chronicle that not only has she decided to put her hat in the ring, but that several other possible contenders have stepped away to make her nomination and eventual election as smooth as possible. I have a huge affection for Margaret. She's tough, she's fair, she calls a spade a shovel and for all that, she's good fun and great to work with.

So the race is on; nominations close on 8th August, with the election for Chairman on 8th September. I wish her all the very best, and look forward to local government with Margaret at the helm.

Picture taken from City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council website - http://www.bradford.gov.uk/default.htm

Ray Lewis and Boris Johnson - the implications continue

As you'll have seen in the news, Boris Johnson's City Hall administrsation has been shaken by the resignation of Ray Lewis, Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Youth just two months after his appointment. Mr Lewis resigned amidst claims relating to his previous roles as a vicar in London's East End, and as head of a youth adacemy in 2003.

However, the resignation will have wide implications for local government. Sir Simon Milton, Councillor for Lancaster Gate ward and former Leader of Westminster Council took over from Sir Sandy (now Lord) Bruce-Lockhart as Chairman of the prestigious Local Government Association just a year ago, and has been acting as an informal adviser to Boris on planning matters. With the resignation of Ray Lewis though, Sir Simon has now accepted the role of Deputy Mayor, thereby causing his resignation as LGA Chairman.

Of course, we all wish Sir Simon the very best of luck - though a year was hardly enough time for him to make his mark on the LGA. But the question now is: who will succeed him? Various well known local government faces have mooted their intention to stand; indeed just last week at the Executive meeting of the Counties Councils Network, I was made aware of two more intended candidates. And depending on who succeeds as Chairman, more vacancies may be created in other posts.

The effects of Ray Lewis' resignation and Mayor Boris' reshuffle will, I suspect, be felt for some time in local government circles. At a time when local government seems to be held in low esteem by many in the Westminster village, the need for consistency in local government's representative body has never been more acute. Let's hope we can get the new office holders in place and get on with business.

Ensuring that Kent has its say

Went up to Local Government House in Smith Square, Westminster today, representing Kent County Council at the Executive meeting of the County Councils Network. I find these meetings really useful, as an opportunity for leaders of county councils up and down the country to meet and discuss issues of importance to upper tier authorities.

On today's agenda were briefings on local government finance settlements and legislative changes; updates on work we're undertaking on localism and Comprehensive Area Agreements; a debate on moving the date of the County elections next year to coincide with European elections; and news on the process towards creating Unitary authorities in Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk.

We also enjoyed briefings and robust discussions with both Stuart Jackson, Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government, and Charles Woodd from the Department for Communities and Local Government, the architect of the "Empowered Communities - Implementing the White Paper" document from DCLG.

It's a long day - I got home around 4.30 this afternoon - but return with more information from a day like this than I could glean in weeks. And managed to ensure that Kent had its say!

Governments have fallen for less

In a week when the people of Ireland have expressed their opinion on the Lisbon Treaty in no uncertain terms, and when Gordon Brown and his Labour machine has tried - unsuccessfully - to steamroller the British Judiciary, I was interested to see Simon Jenkins' view of the electoral process in The Guardian last Wednesday. He writes:

"Have you noticed how the political establishment hates elections? It regards them as vulgar, foreign, exhibitionist and unpredictable. To those in power they are mere concessions to mob rule. If electors did not insist on them, elections would have been abolished long ago as Victorian gimmicks to appease proletarian sentiment."

Major players including France, Britain and Germany have all but ignored the obvious will of the populations of their partner states. Make no mistake; this is dangerous territory. For those of us who spend our lives in local government, we have seen the slow erosion of real democracy for some years now. At the very time Brown's government is trumpeting its "localism agenda" from every rooftop, the population and its elected local mechanisms have never been more emasculated. The 'earned autonomy' promised by Labour's performance management initiative, (where those authorities deemed Excellent by the Audit Commission inspections) came to nothing, as none of the freedoms and flexibilities were ever clearly defined enough to make a real difference.

Mr Jenkins argues that both Labour and the Liberal Democrats, in making a manifesto commitment for a referendum, have broken their promises to the country. When Switzerland's conservative catholic governments in the 19th century overrode the will of the people, there was civil war - not to mention political assassinations and many changes of government. Finally, the old guard were driven into exile and a free constitution was developed.

That constitution today still allows for the population - both by capita and by canton in a 'double majority' - to express its disdain. Consequently, the five major political parties are induced to work together to produce policies and state decisions which seek to meet with the population's approval, not to override it.

In a recent YouGov poll, the question "If Europe's leaders do agree a new constitution for the European Union, who should decide whether Britain should sign it?" brought a reponse from 83% of The decision should be made by the people in a Referendum".

Prime Minister Brown, President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel should think carefully about their next move. There's a lot to lose - governments have fallen for less.

David Davis - noble man or stuntman?

In a move apparently without precedent in British politics, today saw the resignation of Shadow Home Secretary David Davis. The 59 year old MP for Humberside constituency Haltemprice and Howden claimed this was "a noble endeavour" over the issue of the new 42 day terror detention limit. David Cameron claimed Mr Davis' decision was "a personal decision, a decision he has made" but praised it as "courageous". See David Davis' resignation speech on BBC News website here.

Whilst former Europe Minister Denis McShane MP claims "..this will be seen as a stunt" and that "the Conservatives are totally unfit for Government", LibDem leader Nick Clegg has already agreed that, following discussion with Mr Davis his party will not be fielding a LibDem candidate in the ensuing by election.

The issue, of course, is Gordon Brown's over zealous push to increase the maximum period for which terrorist suspects can be held from the previous 28 days to a new 42 days.

Whilst Mr Davis now stands down from the Shadow Cabinet, his position is now taken by Dominic Grieve MP, who becomes Shadow Home Secretary with immediate effect.

Whilst I don't have an issue with Mr Davis' move, I do feel that the perhaps the expenses incurred by holding the by election should be found from party funds rather than the public purse. What do you think?

The final round might come sooner than we think

I've just watched tonight's excellent "Portillo on Thatcher - The Lady's Not For Spurning" on BBC Four. It was part of the 'Thatcher Years' season which seems to have been on since the weekend.

The story, which was narrated and presented by Portillo, picked up at the point of Margaret Thatcher's decline and eventual resignation, through the Hague, Duncan-Smith, Howard and eventually Cameron leaderships, interviewing a number (there must be a better collective noun than this - answers on a postcard please!) of current and previous Parliamentarians, some of whom served in office, whilst others spectated from the sidelines.

The most overwhelming facet of this programme for me was the progress of the Conservative Party nationally during its "wilderness years" as it lumbered from policy vacuum to regurgitated message (remember "Save The Pound"?) in a seemingly unstoppable journey towards oblivion.

It sprang from my TV screen; it shouted loud and clear that we should celebrate David Cameron and his persona; even when Portillo nudged him towards bear traps ("So you're saying you want to be as amazing as Margaret Thatcher?) he elegantly and deftly sidestepped them. For the first time in years we have a charismatic face of modern Conservatism, and as Conservatives - at all levels, at all times - we must keep our nerve and our counsel whilst all about Labour are losing theirs.

Mind you, as I write this BBC News 24 is telling me that the Conservatives have a twenty point lead over Labour, and Brown's credibility is lower even than Iain Duncan-Smith's. The final round might come sooner than we think.

A well deserved pat on the back

This morning saw the Kent Conservative Group from KCC coming together for a "Group Awayday" just outside Maidstone.

These days are immensely useful as, outside of normal County Council business, it's difficult to find time to meet as local elected Members and discuss political business. Today we talked about local issues, joint working with our District colleagues, and the 2009 County Council elections - only 52 weeks away today!

Other items were election strategies, target seats, and new technology-based methods of campaigning.

And we discussed our recent CPA result - the Audit Commission inspection for which, despite their much-vaunted "harder test" nature, Kent was this week awarded the highest rating: a 'four star excellent authority'. Only ourselves and Hampshire remain as the only County Councils nationally to have retained the four star excellent rating since the inspections began.

It was a lot of hard work for both staff and Members alike, and since the inspectors specifically mentioned our strong political leadership, we felt we should celebrate the fact.

Thanks to the generosity of our Leader, we enjoyed a glass of champagne and a well-deserved pat on the back.

2.45am in Crewe and Nantwich

Couldn't help staying up into the small hours to hear the results of the Crewe by election. Edward Timson won the seat with an astonishing 20,539 votes, compared to Labour Tamsin Dunwoody's 12,679 and the Liberal Democrat Elizabeth Shenton's 6,040.

The Conservative's share of the vote was a massive 49%. What was amazing was the swing from Labour to Conservative of 17.6%, and at 58.2%, voter turnout was unusually high too, making the result democratically sound.

The focus in the latter part of Tamsin Dunwoody's campaign on Conservative Edward Timson being a "toff" was unfortunate. It may well have started as a 'bit of fun' as Labour claim, but once the media had picked it up it assumed an altogether darker feel.

Nonetheless, campaign leaflets proclaiming Ms Dunwoody as "One Of Us Versus One Of Them" surely betrayed an insidious Old Labour tone.

So - 'mid term Labour blues' or the start of a Conservative landslide to rival Labour's 1997 success? Time will tell.

But tonight was a slap in the face for Gordon Brown, and his tenure at Number 10 is by no means assured.

A Fascinating Insight

Having promised my new PA for some months that I would take her into my constituency and show her around, yesterday I finally managed to get around to keeping that promise.

We met in Tunbridge Wells at 9am, and I showed her around Pembury, stopping to admire the new Football Pavilion and new classroom block at the Primary School. It confirmed to me that Pembury is really very well served by amenities. The new children's playground at the recreation ground, pavilion and football pitches, new classrooms, an excellent village hall, plenty of elderly care facilities, a large supermarket at the end of the village, great pubs and restaurants.

Before leaving Pembury we stopped to admire the new and imposing Cornford House residential home, before stopping at Pepenbury for a coffee in the sunshine, being impressively served by one or two of the learning disabled residents.

Moving on to Sherwood, we visited the Primary School, saw the new Little Forest Children's Centre, the changing room block used so effectively as a base by the Community of Oak Road Estate, then drove round to the new TN2 Community Centre. It was great to see the centre so well used - pre-school toddlers playing so happily alongside a busy library with story time in progress, a well-attended community cafe and downstairs the "Fred Club" - activities and outings for young adults with learning disabilities. It was also good to see the resurfacing work to Greggs Wood Road had begun!

In St James, there's much to do; litter, graffiti, general parking and traffic issues. Pavements and road surfaces leave much to be desired, but meetings have been set and the pressure will be on Kent Highways to deliver. St Barnabas Church, cheek by jowl with the school, have moved mountains to be able to offer good pre-school nursery facilities, and the take-up by local children has been astonishing. The newly re-elected Borough Councillor will need to impress with action after the promises made at local elections.

But throughout the day, I was struck by the sense of community. Local people improving their surroundings and facilities by pushing and cajoling local decision makers. To see all three wards - each with their own character - in one visit was as useful to me as I hope it was to my colleague. It was a fascinating insight into a large part of Tunbridge Wells.

Working hard, achieving results, and listening to residents

So the Tunbridge Wells Borough elections are over. A short - it was only three weeks this year - campaign, then suddenly it was Election Day.

There's no doubt national politics played a significant part; Nick Clegg's "superstud" confessions (or was it more literary than literal?) in GQ Magazine; Gordon Brown's knee-jerk handling of the ten percent tax rate; even Boris Johnson's mayoral campaign, these were all issues on the doorsteps.

Locally, the Borough Council's plan to close public conveniences and impose Sunday charges in our car parks, added to the usual concerns about roads, pavements, litter and graffiti.

But on the night, the residents of Tunbridge Wells made their point.

Labour and UKIP, despite fielding strong candidates in many wards, failed to make any gains. Even in those wards where absence of a Labour candidate created a 'two horse race', the Liberal Democrats lost three seats in their strongest areas - Capel, St John's and Rusthall as I recall, though nothing's out on the web yet - and their majority was torn in half in St James'.

Democracy is an interesting thing - over the years all the parties have tried technology-based campaigning; have bussed in resources from out of area; even, in the Liberal Democrats case employed out and out slurs and lies about their opposition, sticking to their old campaign manual "stirring endlessly" and "lying shamelessly".

But when all's said and done, there's no substitute for working hard, achieving results, and listening to residents.

St James'

In the early hours of Friday morning at the Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall, the Liberal Democrats retained their seat in St James' ward.

Despite an excellent and dedicated candidate in Alan McDermott, whose campaign was textbook perfect, he lost by just three hundred odd votes to Mary Lewis.

There were some real positives to take away from this however. First, the Liberal Democrats were clearly rattled. Their candidate elsewhere in the Borough told me that morning "the Tories are smashing us to bits in St James". Second, their Leader, David Neve, saw what we could do when we fix our sights - although they won, it was with a fraction of their previous majority - and spent most of Polling Day red-faced and angry, even telling one of his colleagues "I think we've lost this".

Finally, and most importantly, the Conservatives are back in St James' after two decades - with many more supporters and a significant band of volunteers who now want to help as we begin an ongoing campaign running up to the next elections.

The Liberal Democrats, with all the usual dubious and cheap campaign tactics, have scored a hollow victory. Like it or not, the Conservatives are back in St James - on the doorsteps, on the phone and through the letterboxes.

To paraphrase the 1966 World Cup commentary, "they think it's all over". Our job is to make sure it very much isn't now.

Blue Boris beats Red Ken

So Boris Johnson is our new Mayor of London Red Ken is no more, with around 140,000 Londoners marking his demise with a first preference for Boris.

Huge power and umpteen billions in budget is at Boris Johnson's disposal. However, there is far more at stake. With a clear national surge to the Conservatives and no General Election on the horizon for a while, Mayor Johnson represents the Conservative vanguard - any foot he puts wrong will be widely trumpeted as a Conservative mistake, not just Boris'.

Behind all the hype, behind the buffoonery, Mr Johnson is clearly an extremely capable and intelligent man. I just hope Mr Cameron is able to build the kind of working relationship from the start that eluded Blair and Livingstone.

The Most Important Day

Another day, another leaflet in St James. Helpers from Sevenoaks came down to help deliver in St James' ward, and we'd finished every letterbox by early afternoon. Our candidate and his helpers did a couple of hours of door to door canvassing before finishing, tired but pleased. Apparently three people actually stopped them in the street to wish him luck!

Tomorrow is election day in Tunbridge Wells, and the Liberal Democrats will try to hold on to four seats. It will be an interesting day.

For my part, I'll be interested to see the impact on local results of the national swing to the Conservatives.

So it's an early night, as I start my 'telling' stint at 7am, set up our systems to monitor the voting progress, then join the team dropping the next leaflet in St James' throughout the day.

So best of luck to the candidates, on the most important day of the campaign!

Conservatives are for life - not just for elections

Another busy morning out canvassing in St James, with Borough candidate Alan McDermott. We were joined by Peter Dunlop, Chairman of Hawkhurst Parish Council, and Greg Clark, our MP. We canvassed several roads, and everywhere the reception was the same - really pleased that someone had made the effort to come and talk about local issues.

One couple were genuinely surprised that neither of their Liberal Democrat Borough Councillors had contacted me as their County Councillor in all the years I'd been representing St James' ward. It was even more interesting when the lady turned out to be the Lib Dem candidate's daughter! But - as we've done on so many doorsteps over the last few weeks - I gave her my number and suggested that she call me herself if she had any problems.

Our candidate, Alan, really has grown into his role. When he gets elected, he will join the rest of the small Conservative team knocking doors one Saturday each month, keeping up with local issues, and proving that Conservatives are for life, not just for elections.

Mind you, seeing the Liberal Democrats anywhere in St James' ward would be novel - even during the election campaign.