Are the Barnet Tories a bunch of misogynists?

In a blog yesterday, Mrs Angry makes the accusation that the Barnet Tories are a bunch of misogynists. It is quite clear that they have a few people who are misogynists, but is Mrs Angry being fair? Lets look at the evidence. She has also regularly made the point that the few Tory councillors who are female are knocking on a bit.

It is clear that the Tories would benefit from a bit of new blood, but this is true of all three parties. To be fair to Richard Cornelius, he has only really had one opportunity under his leadership to select a candidate in a winnable ward and he selected a young muslim woman, who got soundly trounced. Perhaps even more alarming was the clear evidence of  a backlash against the selection from a large core of traditional Tory voters.

Another interesting point to consider is the fact that if the previous Leader, Lynne Hillan hadn't died of cancer, then Barnet Council would actually have a female leader still. I wondered how Ms Hillan would have reacted to Brian Coleman's hag jibe?

If we look at the key roles in Barnet there are 3 Tory MP's. One of these is a female -Theresa Villiers. Of the other two, Mike Freer is gay and in a civil partnership, so we can hardly tar Mike Freer with the "old school" label. In fact for all the criticism I have levelled at Mike Freer, the one thing I would never accuse him of is being insensetive to inclusivity.

The other post is the MEP, who is Marina Yannakoudis. She is a rather bright and bubbly personality and I don't think anyone would describe her as a misogynist.

The other post of note in Barnet is the Mayoralty. Last year it was Councillor Lisa Rutter, who is anything but a dull old fellow. This year the deputy Mayor is Councillor Kate Salinger. This position was clearly awarded by Richard Cornelius in an attempt to make amends for her appalling treatment over the expenses hike. It has been alleged that her treatment then was perhaps the premier example of misogynist Barnet, but given that Lynne Hillan was leader and in charge of the monstering, this seems a bit of a tenuous call.

In actual fact, I don't agree with Mrs Angry's analysis. I think the problem is a completely different one. I think that the Barnet Tories have lost the ability to attract talent. If you were a bright, young ambitious Tory, would you want to nail your banner to the Barnet Council mast? Not a week goes by without a scandal. At a recent GLA visit to North Finchley, I was talking to one of their press officers. I mentioned this blog and he said "Oh yes, I used to read it all the time". I was quite flattered. He then explained that this was because Brian Coleman was always featured. He gave me the distinct impression that his job was far easier now with Mr Dismore in the job.

Strangely enough, it wasn't awlays like this. The Barnet Tories used to be a hothouse for young talent. The Battersea MP, Jane Ellison was one example of a career launched in Barnet. Another example was Caroline Clapper, who defected to Hertsmere Council.

It is quite clear to me that the local Tory party are in deep doo doo. There is a distinct lack of activists who are coming through the ranks. As a result, they are getting a very low caliber of candidate. Even more worrying is the fact that the most talented councillors, such as Mark Shooter are pushed to the fringes, whilst intellectual lightweights such as Dan Thomas and Tom Davey rule the roost.

As to the current cabinet, there are also female members. Helena Hart is probably the most capable member of the cabinet. Sadly the other, Joanna Tambourides is completely hopeless and every time she speaks, shows just how out of her  depth she is.


So in total we have

MP's - 3 in total - 1 female (33%)
MEP's  -  1 -1 female (100%)
Council Cabinet 9 - 2 female (Less than 25%)
Tory Councillors - 37 - 9 female (less than 25%)
Mayor & Deputy 2 - 1 female (50%)

In my opinion, the root cause of this terrible underrepresentation is down to the fact that the proposition of being a Barnet Tory is not appealing. What sane and intelligent woman would want to have to set next to Brian Coleman as he foams at the mouth and calls people hags? What sane young woman would want to be the only one in the club under 50? I think that anyone wanting to make a name in politics (such as Jane Ellison did in the 1980's & 90's) would give Barnet a very wide berth.

And I think that it is time that the Leader, Richard Cornelius woke up to the fact that whilst he probably is horrified to be called misogynist by Mrs Angry, when he tolerates Brian Colemans behaviour and presides over a party with such massive under represenation of women, who make up 50% of the electorate, he really only has himself to blame for the charge.

Barnet Council : Where have all the Tories gone?

At the last Council Election we elected 37 Conservative Councillors in Barnet. I'd like to think that at the time they were all enthusiastic and keen to do a four year stint serving the people of Barnet. Where did it all go wrong. Since those heady days, three of them have emigrated. Edgware Councillor Richard Weider legged it to Israel, Golders Green Councilor Chris Harris upped sticks to Australia (he didn't tell his colleagues and collected his £800 a month allowance for six months, even more worryingly they didn't notice) and now news emerges that East Barnet Councillor Terry Burton has moved to the USA. It is not clear whether any of his colleagues noticed. That is a staggering 8% of Barnets Tory Councillors who have had enough.  Now I've never felt the urge to  up sticks and emigrate, I rather like Mill Hill. My friends are here, my family are here and I love the place. I don't know what thought process makes someone leave. I suppose if Uma Thurman rolled up on my doorstep and begged me to accompany her to California, I may be tempted but other than that I can't really think of anywhere I'd rather live. Assuming these three didn't stand planning to run off at the first opportunity, why did they get so disillusioned that they had to go. Sadly Richard Weider told us that it was "because Jewish people no longer feel comfortable here". Thankfully this isn't what my Jewish friends tell me, but it is highly worrying none the same. Given the large Jewish population of the Borough, it was sad that Mr Weider didn't think he could address this as part of a Tory administration. Harris and Burton haven't really enlightened us at all. Given that for most of the last four years, the Tories nationally have been ahead in the polls, it is sad that they don't think Great Britain has a Bright future.

As well as the three who have emigrated, we've seen a pattern of Councillors resigning and moving away. Sadly the pattern is that they have been extremely capable and committed female Councillors, who clearly felt that Barnet was not a place where their talents would be recognised. Both Caroline Margo who defected to Hertfordshire and Jane Ellison who left Hale to stand as PPC for Battersea, were highly capable councillors. I know Jane extremely well from her efforts for the Mill Hill Music Festival, which she set up. Had she been a PPC in Barnet, Finchley or Hendon, I'm sure that she would have easily won, as she's hard working, intelligent and committed. She doesn't carry the baggage that accompany the selected candidates. As for Caroline Margo, I don't know her, but the Tories I know who do, tell me she would also have been a great PPC. Sadly we've lost these great talents.

Then there are the Tories who aren't standing at the next election for Council. I've been told that Fiona Bulmer is not standing in Underhill. If you do a search on this blog, you will see that from day one I said that she was a credible Tory who did a good job. I've got three children at school in Barnet and they've all had an excellent education (which was her portfolio). I don't agree with Fi Fi's politics, but she is an excellent administrator and has a track record of doing the job well. She challenged Lynne Hillan for Leadership in December so it is quite clear she wasn't planning to leave. She only lost because Hillan bribed several unscrupulous councillors who knew Bulmer was the best candidate with the promise of cabinet positions (some of which never materialised, Ho Ho Ho). Bulmer knew that Hillan would be a lousy leader and she didn't wish to be associated with a culture of failure. Who can blame her. If you think I'm just saying nice things about her now to make trouble, read this blog, written in December 2008, where I graded the performance of all of the then Tory cabinet and in hindsight was remarkably fair - http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2008/11/barnet-council-cabinet-members.html

If you are a Barnet Tory, ask yourself this question. Just suppose for one second that Jane Ellison had been the PPC for Finchley and Golders Green, Caroline Margo the Candidate for Hendon and Fiona Bulmer the Council Leader. Do you think that the Tories would get more or less votes in the election in May. Do you think that the Council would be better run? Do you think you'd have shown that talent was rewarded in the Barnet Conservatives? Sadly all I see from Barnet Council and the Barnet Conservatives is that talent is stifled and driven out and failure is rewarded. Candidates which would be attractive to the electorate and have good track records are undermined, driven out and destroyed. The only people who prosper are those who kow tow to the ruling junta and don't point out the obvious flaws in the various cunning plans which Lynne Hillan and her cronies have cooked up (just see how many Court battles Barnet Council have lost recently).

It may surprise you to know that The Barnet Eye thinks it is bad for Barnet to see all our most talented Conservative Councillors leaving.It also explains why the Council is doing such a rotten jo

Picture at the top : Ex Barnet Councillor Caroline Margo (now Caroline Clapper) on left, at Jewish blind and disabled charity event.
Picture in middle : Ex Barnet Councillor Jane Ellison (left) at Battersea Park School fair

Mill Hill Music Festival - Dear Diary Day 5

A day off from Festive duties yesterday (almost). Did nip down to the Sports Centre for the Jazz though, to show my face. Bumped into a guy who used to play in "The Vektors" an Edgware School band circa 1979-80. They supported us at Harwood Hall a couple of times. Nice blokes & the band had a massive following. There is a video of them at the gig posted on YouTube. I promoted the gig, as I recall it was an eventful night.

Anyway, back to tonight. First stop St Vincents school to drop off a PA system and engineer - they are doing a production of the Boyfriend. Helped rig it up, then off to Mill Hill School for the tribute to Humphrey Lyttleton show, with BBC newsreader Brian Perkins comparing. As ever with these shows, time is tight. No soundcheck & a live mix which improved as the night went on. As ever with Jazz bands, they are always less than keen to engage with the sound guys in the way rock bands do. Over the years, I've learned to live with it, but I still don't get it ! Luckily the guys were good players. I always feel a bit peeved though, as with a bit of time spent up front, we could have got them a superb sound, rather than just a good sound. The secret of a good live mix for jazz is actually to back off, but also to ensure good projection. Generally I eq pretty flat & then just pull out any nasty rings or plug frequency gaps as we go. Must say Brian Perkins was most amusing. He has the same opinion of politicians as me.

The main thing is the punters enjoyed it. Yet again a good crowd.

On to tomorrow & a change for me. My band, the False Dots are playing at Mill Hill Sports Club on Graham Park Way. If you are not doing anything, drop by and say hi.

By the way, I saw a story in the Guardian that Brian Coleman spent £400 on a single taxi ride! That is more than we paid the band for our best attended gig of the festival so far. What do you think brought the people of Barnet more pleasure? Oh and before you ask, no Barnet Council did not subsidise the festival, it's entirely self funding. I just wish that all of this money that had been troughed by politicians of all parties, could have been put to better use. Expenses are things incurred doing your job. Scoffing banquets surely cannot be deemed as anything other than socialising. This isn't an anti Tory rant. I actually quite like some Tories. Former Barnet Tory Councillor & now Battersea PPC Jane Ellison founded the Mill Hill Music Festival (with Marion Dewing). She put countless hours in for free and used to get her hands dirty. I don't agree with her politics, but I'd have no hesitation in vouching for her honesty, integrity, hard work and community spirit. When she left Barnet & the Festival, she left a legacy to be proud of. If all of our politicians were like Jane, this blog would be about music, football and three legged dogs ! I'm not into criticising people for the sake of it, because we vote in a different manner. I am however, very into shining a light onto the shady practises which are destroying people's faith in our politicians. The sooner that those decent, honest people on both sides call time on all of this troughing the better. If they don't they will ultimately go down with the ship.

How to cut your council tax bill by 50%

Are you struggling to make ends meet? Would you like to instantly cut your council tax bill by approx 50%. If like me you are paying band F in Barnet, you could save £1019 per year. This saving can be achieved perfectly legally, it's all perfectly above board. What do you have to do? Move to Wandsworth. I found this website which gives you comparisons for the various boroughs. Here's a link for Barnet and Wandsworth


http://www.net-lettings.co.uk/London/Borough-Guide/Wandsworth.html


http://www.net-lettings.co.uk/London/Borough-Guide/Barnet.html

Now I'm not a Tory, I don't subscribe to their politics or policies, but I thought that for you, dear reader, I'd pretend I was, just for the day. As I understand it, the Tories are for low taxes, so surely Edward Lister, Wandsworth Council Leader is the best Tory in London. Lets compare how he runs the show, with our good friend here in Barnet, Council Leader Mike "No one saw that coming" Freer.

Lets start with the local campaigns the Wandsworth Tories are running on their website :-

http://www.putneyconservatives.net/issues.jsp

Now imagine my shock (real Rog T shock, not Tory for a day Rog T shock) -

A campaign for a new local Bus Route
A campaign for a new train line
A campaign for improvements on the district line
A campaign for better local station facilities at Earlsfield
A campaign for better financial Transparency
A campaign to improve the Northern Line


To name but a few. Strangely, all things I thoroughly agree with and all real local issues. No wonder Wandsworth Tories are popular !

Now lets visit Mike Freer's Finchley conservatives local campaigns website

http://finchleyconservatives.com/local-campaigns.html

We get

A letter from Mike Freer about the Equitable life scandal
A campaign to keep some post offices open
The National Dump the Bin Tax campaign
The "Shame on Labour" campaign with this lovely quote from Mike Freer

The Government should be doing more to keep Council Tax down, not finding new ways to tax hard working local residents.

Quite staggering really. The Tory Leader of Barnet Council, rather than ringing up his mate at Wandworth for a few tips, wants Gordon Brown to come and tell him how to run the council.

Now as regular followers of this blog will know, I've been rather critical of Mike Freer's Leaderlistens.com blog, paid for at the taxpayers expense. I thought I'd have a look at Wandsworth's leader blog. Guess what? He hasn't got one, he's too busy running the council.

Now you may wonder what interested me about Wandsworth. Well one of Barnet's Councillors elected at the last election, Jane Ellison decided to up sticks and move to Putney (in Wandsworth) to stand for Parliament. Now Jane decided that she'd not have time to be a Barnet Councillor and a PPC, so she resigned from Barnet Council. I decided to see how she was getting on and to be quite honest I was shocked by what I saw. It seems that not every Tory London Borough is plagued by the problems we have in Barnet. Wandsworth is in many ways quite similar to Barnet, but it seems that they seem to know what they are doing. The Council Leader gets his head down and gets on with it. Personally I cannot understand why two boroughs, both with Tory administrations can possibly have such a massive Council Tax difference. I cannot understand why Barnets Tories are so dead set against anything to improve Transport, whilst Wandsworth Tories are running a whole host of campaigns. Doesn't it occur to the plonkers running Barnet, that the borough is full of commuters?

I'm sure that Wandsworth has it's problems, but I couldn't find a barrage of criticism for the council in the way we see here. Sadly for me, I'm a local lad. Moving to Wandsworth is not an option. I'll just have to stay here and make life miserable for Freer and Co until they actually appoint someone who can do the job properly. From what I've seen of the way they run the show, I can see why Jane decided that she'd be better off being a Tory in Wandsworth.