Lynne Hillan has got to go !

What sort of person do you think should be the Leader of a local authority? Here's a few key words that come to mind.

Honest
Trustworthy
Financially competent
Intelligent
Hard Working
Self sacricing

Is Lynne Hillan all of these? Is she a suitable choice to be Leader of the Council? Sadly, whilst I hold my own views, I don't have a say in this. A majority of the Conservative Group on Barnet Council think so and that is all that matters. Let's quickly reprise some of the highlights of Councillor Hillans career to see what persuaded them.

Honest and trustworthy.
Lynne Hillan is the architect of the policy of scrapping wardens in the Boroughs sheltered housing. She moved her own mother from a location where the warden was being abolished to one where the warden was being retained, shortly before the policy was announced. Does this fill you with confidence in her honesty and trustworthyness.

Financial Competence.
Lynne Hillan ran a company called Ashurst Direct Markiting Ltd. This went into administration on 14th September 2006, leaving many creditors out of pocket. Do you think that someone who can't successfully run a small business has the acumen to manage a borough.

Intelligent.
Far be it from me to start slating the intellectual capacity of anyone, but if you read this blog, you'll hear how Lynne Hillan associates herself with a letter from Conservative council Leaders claiming Tories deliver low council taxes. Now surely anyone with half a brain, wouldn't make such claims when taxes have skyrocketed in Barnet under Conservative regimes. Given that taxes in Barnet have overtaken those in Lib Dem Brent, which were hundreds of pounds a year higher in 2003 when the Tories took power, do you think that signing this letter was as clever as Councillor Hillan thinks it was?

Hard working and Self sacrificing.
During the recent spell of bad weather, the Borough ground to a halt. Salt supplies ran out and gritting ground to a halt on many roads. Where was Councillor Hillan, the leader? She was on holiday in America. Now we all deserve a holiday, but her deputy Andrew Harper had also gone away, leaving no one in effective control. The excuse "We had both already booked the holidays when we took over leadership". Even Councillor Brian Coleman was unimpressed, especially after he made a fool of himself, claiming "Barnet was full of grit" just before his colleague, road supremo Councillor Daniel Thomas announced supplies were running dangerously low. Hard working and Self Sacrificing?

This is all of the evidence that she should go which is in the public domain. I spoke to a leading Conservative critic of Lynne Hillan over the weekend. I've been sworn to secrecy, but I might just be nipping down to Ladbrokes to put a little side bet on a new leader some time rather soon.