Yesterday I had a nice cup of tea in Finchley. I also had a chat with a member of the Finchley and Golders Green Conservative Association regarding the issue of Brian Coleman and his readmission and re-ejection from the Finchley and Golders Green Conservative Association. If you read the tweets and the letters published on twitter by the worthies from the association, you may think that the whole issue was simply an administration cock up. You may also think that Brian Coleman has no friends at all within the association. Following my conversation yesterday, I have to report that the whole story seems to be slightly different. Whatever you may think about Brian Coleman, one thing is beyond doubt. That is that when it comes down to it, he considers himself to be a Conservative. Although some may think this love manifests itself in a slightly unhelpful way at times, it is unquestionable.
The story I was told and which I believe, is that Brian Coleman was very pleased to receive a membership card and letter from the association telling him he was a member and that his support was valued. I also believe that Brian was chuffed and shared this information with lots of his Tory friends. From what I have been told (and this is a charitable interpretation of the events), perhaps the only people in the Finchley & Golders Green Tory party who were unaware of his readmission were the membership secretary and the other senior officers. Brian was not under the impression that his readmission was a secret, which is why he felt comfortable tweeting about the situation. He was under the impression that he'd been banned for two years and this period was up (the ban was imposed in June 2013 after his conviction so this doesn't quite stack up).
Anyone who knows Brian will know he is not one to hide his light under a bushell. The concept that he'd received the card and the letter and would go out and tell his Tory friends is beyond belief, especially as he was quite happy to tweet about it. Brian also felt that he was doing his bit for the party in the election.
My friend in the association tells me that Brian feels very upset with his treatment. He feels that he is owed for all his hard work for the Tories over the years and they are very duplicitous bunch. He feels he's done nothing wrong and has simply been "hung out to dry because of some bloggers tittle tattle".
It is also clear to me that some of his friends in the association are rather upset with his treatment, and feel the association should have shown him a bit more loyalty. They are disgusted with tweets showing the private letter and the delivery of it to Mr Coleman. They saay this displays a complete display of bad manners, given Brian Coleman had paid his subs and in his eyes done nothing wrong.
If you take the story on face value, Coleman received a membership card and a letter. He was pleased to be readmitted, so he tweeted about it. The next thing he gets a snotty letter and a load of abuse from the Tories on Twitter. It isn't exactly classy behaviour by the association is it? That is Brians story and that is what he's telling any of his friends who are prepared to listen.
Whatever I think about Brian, I must say what I've been told has a ring of truth to it and I think the association has some questions to answer. Not least their PPC Mike Freer who is a friend of Coleman and who one has to assume was aware of Colemans readmission
Showing posts with label finchley and golders green Conservatives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finchley and golders green Conservatives. Show all posts
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Sunday, 3 May 2015
Brian Coleman Conservative Membership - Local Tories exposed as total incompetents
The Barnet Eye has spent the last two days trying to get to the bottom of whether Brian Coleman is a member of the Finchley Conservatives or not. Following a tweet by Coleman saying he'd been let back in, we have been frantically trying to ascertain the truth. Usually trustworthy sources assurred us that he wasn't a member, whilst Mr Coleman was tweeting that he was.
When directly challenged by the Barnet Eye to produce evidence, he did. He tweeted a picture of his membership card.
apologies please from@Barneteye with promise never to tweet about me again as for @rozgab you are just a silly boy
Having been assurred by various members of this association that Coleman wasn't a member, I was actually quite upset to have been mislead. So I tweeted to the Finchley and Golders Green Conservatives and asked what was going on. They responded quickly on Twitter.
It appears (if you believe the letter) that when Coleman was expelled, he didn't cancel his standing order to the party. As a result, he was "automatically" issued a new 2015 membership card.
The letter in full to @BrianColeman251 and his membership.
As far as the Barnet Eye is concerned this is anything but a plausable story. Firstly how can a membership card be sent to someone not on the membership list. Secondly, if this process is automatic, then presumably he'd have been sent a new card last year as well. There must be a list of current members with details of where cards are to be sent as address details are not passed with standing orders.
So it is pretty clear that Colemans name was never expunged from the list. It seems likely that as far as the branch were concerned, he was paying his dues and was a member all along. The explanation in the letter is simply not credible. It is not as if Coleman and his antics were a secret. Given the nature of his expulsion, one would have expected an efficient organisation to have procedures to ensure situations like this cannot happen.
As far as the Barnet Eye is concerned, the only reasonable explanation as to what has happened is that on the eve of an election, a rather embarrassing situation has come to light.The party have simply sent the letter and the cheque out as damage limitation.
If as they state Colemans standing order was never cancelled, why isn't the cheque for his 2014 subs as well? The situation is quite clear. If the Barnet Eye had not started asking questions, Brian Coleman would be paying his subs, be on the membership list and have a membership card for the Finchley and Golders Green Conservative party.
This begs a few questions.
1) Has Coleman been working for the party organisation & Mike Freers election campaign/
2) Has Coleman been attending meetings and fundraising events for the Finchley and Golders Green Conservatives
3) Who is responsible for maintaining the Finchley and Golders Green membership register
4) Who issued Brian Coleman with a membership card and when was it issued
5) Did Mike Freer check with his membership secretary when Colemans claims came to light
It appears that several senior local members of the party issued denials of his membership without actually bothering to check the situation. The Finchley and Golders Green Conservatives are currently campaigning to convince the electorate that they are capable of running the country.
This whole episode shows that they'd struggle to run the local whelk stall.
When directly challenged by the Barnet Eye to produce evidence, he did. He tweeted a picture of his membership card.
apologies please from
Having been assurred by various members of this association that Coleman wasn't a member, I was actually quite upset to have been mislead. So I tweeted to the Finchley and Golders Green Conservatives and asked what was going on. They responded quickly on Twitter.
It appears (if you believe the letter) that when Coleman was expelled, he didn't cancel his standing order to the party. As a result, he was "automatically" issued a new 2015 membership card.
F&GGConservatives
As far as the Barnet Eye is concerned this is anything but a plausable story. Firstly how can a membership card be sent to someone not on the membership list. Secondly, if this process is automatic, then presumably he'd have been sent a new card last year as well. There must be a list of current members with details of where cards are to be sent as address details are not passed with standing orders.
So it is pretty clear that Colemans name was never expunged from the list. It seems likely that as far as the branch were concerned, he was paying his dues and was a member all along. The explanation in the letter is simply not credible. It is not as if Coleman and his antics were a secret. Given the nature of his expulsion, one would have expected an efficient organisation to have procedures to ensure situations like this cannot happen.
As far as the Barnet Eye is concerned, the only reasonable explanation as to what has happened is that on the eve of an election, a rather embarrassing situation has come to light.The party have simply sent the letter and the cheque out as damage limitation.
If as they state Colemans standing order was never cancelled, why isn't the cheque for his 2014 subs as well? The situation is quite clear. If the Barnet Eye had not started asking questions, Brian Coleman would be paying his subs, be on the membership list and have a membership card for the Finchley and Golders Green Conservative party.
This begs a few questions.
1) Has Coleman been working for the party organisation & Mike Freers election campaign/
2) Has Coleman been attending meetings and fundraising events for the Finchley and Golders Green Conservatives
3) Who is responsible for maintaining the Finchley and Golders Green membership register
4) Who issued Brian Coleman with a membership card and when was it issued
5) Did Mike Freer check with his membership secretary when Colemans claims came to light
It appears that several senior local members of the party issued denials of his membership without actually bothering to check the situation. The Finchley and Golders Green Conservatives are currently campaigning to convince the electorate that they are capable of running the country.
This whole episode shows that they'd struggle to run the local whelk stall.
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