Barnet Strategic Planning Committee - Is it fit for purpose ?

 I am a sad git - I know it , I have been for years. 

Last Thursday December 4th and this past Monday December 8th I sat through the meetings of the Strategic Planning Committee of Barnet Council, admittedly remotely from the comfort of my own living room with a cup of coffee and a box of After Eight mints. 

Now no normal person would submit to 4 hours of a Council Planning Committee (each meeting lasted 2  hours) unless they had too . Pity the nine Councillors who sit on the Committee (six Labour and 3 Conservative ) . The Labour Group have as their representatives a Group of Pensioners Councillors  Barnes , Cohen, Khalick, Roberts and Farrier none of whom will see 70 again presumably chosen for their experience and Planning expertise and their ability to just about stay awake during meetings . Additionally the Labour Chairman, or Chair of course in woke Barnet is Councillor Nigel Young . Now Councillor Young is an interesting man . A newly elected Councillor for Childs Hill Ward in 2022 he was straight away appointed Chair of the Stategic Planning Committee and has actually chaired it very well particularly when faced with a baying mob in the public gallery as he was during the meeting held earlier this year which dealt with the ridiculous application to build a Football Stadium for Barnet Football Club on Playing Fields they did not even own and the Council had no intention of selling to them. More about Councillor Young later in this blog !

The Conservatives have as their representatives Councillor Richard Cornelius (now an elder Statesman but still annoyed at being forced to give up the Leadership of the Council to the Welsh Reform upstart Councillor Thomas ) . Do not rule out a Leadership comeback from our Richard ! Then there is Councillor Josh Mastin- Lee a worthy and earnet successor to the late much missed  Councillor Eva Greenspan (who knew her Planning having done it for 35 years and spoke up for her residents and always topped the poll in her Ward as a result ) and finally Councillor Shuy Gordon the quiet , clever yet understated son of the late Councillor Brian Gordon 

Now Council Planning Committees are quasi judicial Committees ( as the Chair reminds us at the start of each meeting) so that the usual shenanigans of Local Government and Politics are strictly forbidden . In particular Councillors cannot be whipped and must vote according to Planning law . That is the theory anyway.

However in the last couple of years several applications across Barnet on a scale not seen since the late 1960s with the Grahame Park Estate have come forward notably "Edgware towers " the redevelopment of Edgware Town Centre , the redevelopment of North Finchley Town Centre and the constant threat / proposals from Transport for London to build on Station car parks.

The attitude of the ruling Labour Administration in Barnet has been to "Build baby build " and no matter what public opposition from Residents Groups or in the case of Edgware Towers, the London Fire Brigade have stopped the Labour members of the Planning Committee voting in favour of applications . The attitude can be seen by the Council Officers recomemendations . Officers always take their "steer" from leading Members especially the Chair of Planning and the Cabinet member responsible for Development (or whatever the current title is ) .All the major applications to build in Barnet in the last couple of years ( with the exception of the Football Club which had other considerations ) have come before Committee with an Officer recomemdation to approve . 

So imagine my surprise nah shock when Labour Members joined their Conservative colleagues in voting down the application for the Leisure Way development in Finchley last Thursday and the High Barnet Station Car Park development on Monday refusing the Officer recomemdation to approve. Suddenly all those worthy arguments troted out by Labour Councillors about the need for more social and affordabe housing were instantly forgotton .My shock was nothing compared to the Planning Officers who were clearly furious and having had their advise rejected on Thursday lost patience on Monday, indeed the Director started bullying the Committee into giving far more detailed reasons for refusal than normal . Indeed the mildly spoken Councillor Gordon who no doubt had a hot dinner waiting for him at home , said "We are not usually asked for this much detail in a refusal ".

The Leisure Way development was stage two in a three stage planning process to completley change North Finchley . This ill advised process was started by the previous Conservative Administration and enthusiastically pursued by the current Labour Administration. The first stage was to build on Lodge Lane N12, North Finchley car park the development to include a small cinema and an 8 lane bowling alley clearly intended to replace the facilities on Leisure Way . Despite huge resident opposition and not just from the usual NIMBY brigade the Labour Group voted the application through . 

So what has changed between the Committiee meetings held to determine Edgware Towers and Lodge Lane and the Committee meetings held to determine Leisure Way and High Barnet Underground ?

Well several answers to that . First the "Chair" of Stategic Planning the aforementioned Councillor Young has gone on the "Chicken run" abandoning his Childs Hill Ward which is looking like a probable Conservative Gain and getting selected to replace the ailing Councillor Cooke in Woodhouse Ward in North Finchley which surprise , surprise contains the Leisure Way Development and vast numbers of objectors .

Secondly local Labour Members of Parliament are getting increasingly jittery about trying to hold their seats in the light of the huge unpopularity of their Government and Prime Minister . Hence Sarah Sackmen wrote a letter , she was far too busy to turn up in person and address the Planning Committee, objecting to Leisure Way . It was a very very long letter ! 

Third and foremost the Labour Party in Barnet have woken up to the fact (reinforced bythe collapse in the Labour vote in the recent Hendon Ward byelection )  that they are possibly facing wipe out in May 2026 Local elections ( 1968 all over again for those of you with long memories ) from a combination of the Conservatives , Reform and even the mad Greens and are now backtracking on the desperatley unpopular "Build baby build " strategy .

So what happens now ?

Well of course these two developments go to the Mayor of London who can use his powers to direct Barnet Council to grant Planning permission . I would put my pension on the fact  that he will do just that but probably not before the Council elections in May in order to spare Barnet Labour Group blushes . 

So what is the point of Barnet Council Strategic Planning Committee ? You may well ask !

 The final report of the Public Inquiry into the Grenfell Fire is now published

Sir Martin Moore -Bick has blamed a number of individuals and organisations not least the London Fire Brigade condemning the lack of leadership of the Brigade .

I served for twelve years , four of them as Chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and all twelve as Conservative Group Leader . I also served on the various Committees of the Local Government Association responsible for Fire Services in England.

That twelve years was war , War between the workforce represented by (mainly) the Fire Brigade Union and the Management , war between the Politicians and the workforce and distrust between the Management and the Politicians . 

All senior Officer appointments ie of Assistant Commissioner and above were done by all Party members panels . It was usually "buggins turn" and anyone who tried to resist this , as I did, immediately earned the distrust of senior officers . Firefighters mostly join the service at 18 ,except for those who transfer from the armed forces and all senior uniformed officers have risen through the ranks . During the 2002 National pay strike the then Commissioner of London Fire Brigade told me we could only rely on eight officers , him, his Deputy and the six Assistant Commissioners . In the event two hundred officers kept working in London and I admired every one of them due to the intimidation they faced for years afterwards . John Prescott who as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government was "in charge" of Government policy during the dispute was heard to say he had been driven past Euston Fire Station and "the Governors are on the picket line" . Yes John they were all members of the Union.

There are just few quality Officers in Senior ranks in the UK Fire Service . In January this year the Chief Fire Officer of the West Midlands Wayne Brown , the only black Chief Fire Officer in the Country committed suicide after being suspended as his CV was distinctly dodgy. Wayne was a former London Officer and was considered amongst the brightest of his generation.

The Fire Brigade Union has the most extreme left wing leadership of any Union . For a number of years after the National Pay strike the Union disaffiliated from the Labour Party and the Annual Conference of the Union has often spent more time discussing Israel than terms and conditions of firefighters . 

Sadly and Bizarrely the uniformed men and women (mostly men) always support their Union come what may . Any attempt to even make minor changes to pay and conditions is always resisted by the Union and "modernisation" is a dirty word. As for Equalities the Union often employs top lawyers ro defend any member accused of the most heinous of racist offences. In my time a black firefighter based at Clerkenwell had a Banana placed on his seat in the appliance . Some firefighters thought it was a joke. God help any openly Gay firefighter . Not much has changed today if you read the most recent reports of HM Fire Service Inspectorate.

The general public cannot see past the fire station doors and considers firefighters as heroes. I just think the Fire and Rescue Service is a Local Government Service some of whose staff wear uniforms. When Sadiq Khan newly appointed Fire Minister visited London Fire Headquarters he was introduced to the Senior Officers of the Brigade and the Directors . Our then two woman Directors were absent and the Commissioner apologised . "Would they be wearing fucking uniforms as well?" was Sadiq's response ?"

I think I dealt with about thirty Fire Ministers and Shadow Fire Ministers in twelve years , some were reasonably effective others totally useless and achieved nothing in the matter of months they held office.

Ms Rita Dexter was one of the two women Directors of the London Fire Brigade appointed in 2002 when Valerie Shawcross the then Labour Chair of the Authority cleared out  the coterie of male Directors inherited from the Regime of free spending Tony Ritchie the former Leader of the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority who was considered too corrupt by Ken Livingstone to appoint to the new Authority. I was responsible for Ms Dexter's appointment encouraging her to apply when she failed to be appointed Chief Executive Barnet Council despite being the acting Chief Executive . She is clever , efficient and effective but overreached herself twice attempting to conduct a coup , once against Sir Ken Knight ( easily the best Fire officer in the UK of the last twenty years) and then a few years later against the then Commissioner Ron Dobson. The coup failed and Ron turned round and proposed to abolish the post of Deputy Commissioner then held by Ms Dexter which members duly did and that was the end of her ! 

Although not quite . She reappeared as a witness at the Grenfell Inquiry where her answers to questions landed the uniformed officers in the shit up to their necks. Her dramatic long pauses and her constant on the verge of tears has to be seen to be believed but had the desired effect . 

Ms Dexter (as is the way with the establishment) now sits on the House of Commons Standards Committee where she passes judgement on Members of Parliament's minor misdemeanors.

Then there was the career ending evidence of Dany Cotton the Commissioner at the time of Grenfell. Her behaviour post the fire was somewhat strange and she took a considerable amount of sick leave with the rumours that she would claim to be too ill to give evidence . She however appeared but her defient tone "I was putting out a fire " and her closing remarks that she would not change a thing were enough for Sadiq to sack her a few weeks later. Her send off from Fire Brigade Headquarters like some sort of conquering hero was a complete slap in the face to the poor families of victims of the fire and was considered bizarre by a number of senior officers. Dany was the first woman to head the London Fire Brigade and had been appointed by Sadiq soon after he took office in 2016. Although as she climbed through the ranks ahe also appeared tough having been appointed Commissioner she reversed many of the sensible reforms of the last twenty years much to the delight of the Fire Brigades Union .

At previous Inquests and Inquiries the Fire Brigade along with most public bodies had always rehearsed their witnesses to ensure accurate evidence and joined up thinking . At the 2011 Inquests into the deaths of the terror attack of July 7th 2005 this had proved very valuable when the evidence appeared to be suggesting Fire Brigade incompetence but in the end all was well. Dany Cotton apparently did not rehearse as no lawyer would have advised her to imply "Je ne regrette rien".

Much has been made by the Grenfell Inquiry of the 2009 Lakanhal Fire in Southwark in which six people died . Once the Inquest was out of the way (and Southwark Council had been fined under Health and Safety regulations) , the London Fire Authority set up a Committee to look at the lessons of Lakanhall chaired by Val Shawcross. Much was made of the minutes and agendas for this meeting at the Grenfell Inquiry and despite what appears to have been some blocking from less than helpful London Officers resulted in correspondence between the Authority Chairman James Cleverly and Ministers notably Brandon Lewis . The Government in effect ignored the results of the London Committee's findings and I suspect Mr Lewis regrets signing some of these letters even if his civil servants drafted them. 

During World War Two all local fire services were taken over by the Government and formed into a National Fire Service . I believe the current situation is so serious and progress of change is so slow that was need to do the same. Many of the County Brigades consist of virtually two men and a dog and a large number of retained , part time voluntary firefighters and their Chief Officers are considered a joke. We also need to deal with the Fire Brigade Union either ban firefighters like Police Officers from belonging to a union or just get the Fire Brigade Union to merge with one of the large Local Government Unions .

We cannot continue as we are .

 

A year of my life I will never get back 

So what do Runcorn, Stourport, Mill Hill and Highgate, Muswell Hill and Islington have in common ? Well from July 1st they will no longer have a Rotary Club . These Clubs along with others have voted to close . Rotary, as fewer and fewer readers will know, is an organisation founded in the USA in 1905 by a group of Chicago businessmen lead by a man named Paul Harris to do good basically. "service above self" is the motto and Rotary spread quickly around the world with the first Club outside America opening in London in 1911 closely followed by the Rotary Club of Dublin.

The First Rotary Clubs first project was to install a public toilet in Chicago so that shoppers stayed longer.

Rotary has however become a victim of its own sucesss . In countries where Rotary has celebrated it Centenary USA, Canada , Australia and most of Western Europe it is terminal decline , and by terminal I mean terminal . At the Annual Meeting of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland a few weeks ago, held  on line (as the Annual Meeting in person along with the Annual Conference has been permanently cancelled) , Nikki Scott ( more of her later) the Rotary Director for Great Britain and Ireland (not the President that position has also been permanently deleted ) admitted that two thirds (yes 66 per cent ) of Rotary membership of 34,000 were over the age of 75.

There is just no coming back from this position .

So why is Rotary in such a terminal decline?

There are endless reasons . Society has changed . Britain High Streets have changed . There are few privately owned shops run by their owners . Ken Livingstone tells the story of when he used to buy newts as a child from the local pet shop which was owned by a Rotarian. Long gone are the local bank managers and indeed most  High Street banks are closing . The internet and organisations like linkedin have taken over business networking indeed many Chamber of Commerces have closed . No working man or woman can spare two hours for lunch . Indeed as District Governor it is my role to visit all the Clubs in the District and I visited Edmonton Club who were complaining about lack of new members but point blank refuse to move from lunchtime or to have hybrid meetings accessed by the Internet and have no social media presence . Message to Edmonton Rotarians which of course meets nowhere near Edmonton just close down now and spare the club the long lingering but inevitable death.

As Clubs have closed in London we now have 55 twenty years ago we had had over 100 , the calibre of Rotarians has declined . Gone are the days when prominent business men or peers of the realm took office in Rotary . London is reduced to a former Chairman of the London Assembly (ie me ) as District Governor but my replacement is a woman who left her Club and moved to another after they declined to nominate her as District Governor on the grounds she was completely useless and had no social skills . The District Governor Elect for 2023/24 in London has been investigated by Rotary after having been accused of fraud by his own Club President ! Apparently the same man is openly angling for an OBE by asking Rotarians to nominate him .

The major issue however is National Leadership . Rotary has made a huge mistake in abolishing the Annual Presidency in the UK and replacing it with a two year " Directorship " . The first Director was a woman called Nikki Scott who appeared to me to have no experience of Rotary in the UK (she was a District Governor in the USA ) and who admitted to me that her husband had left her because she spent too much time on Rotary !

Rumour is that having spent two years saying how wonderful United Kingdom Rotary is she has at last recognised that Rotary is in serious trouble hence her admission that two thirds of Rotarians are over 75, She has been an all round disaster for UK Rotary and has presided over a further decline in the number of clubs . The paid uo UK membership of Rotary is 34,000 far less than even the Conservative Party and dramatically less then the National Trust or the Women's Institute . It is far more than Inner Wheel an organisation founded for the wives of Rotarians that refuses to admit men and is down to about 100 members in London. How on earth Rotary still associates with such an organisation in these days of equality I completely fail to understand and I politely declined invitations from Inner Wheel during my year of office.

As District Governor I tried and the whole failed to reform Rotary in London . Every District is supposed to have a District Conference and I held a reasonably succeesful one day Conference in London which had the most ethnically diverse audience ever seen at a Rotary Meeting in the United Kingdom . What does my successor do decides to hold a three day Conference in the home of the living dead (Eastbourne) complete with a Golf Day and a black tie dinner like something out of the 1950s .Well good luck with that ! Do you not realise there are many Rotarians in London with child care issues (40 per cent of London Rotarians are women ) and that the nation is going through a cost of living crisis which even affects Rotarians and £50 for a Conference in London is affordable but £350 plus for three days in Eastbourne may not be, 

Rotary worldwide is in trouble as this years Rotary Convention in Australia proved . I was involved in bidding to hold this particular Convention in London and we did so on the basis of 35,000 worldwide attendees .We lost the bid(thank goodness) as in this post Covid world only 14,000 Rotarians turned up. Bizarrely as Rotary is promoting the green agenda there was no way you could attend Convention on line . Whilst on this subject how on earth does Rotary justfy flying 500 District Governor to Orlando in Florida at massive expense to train them (or teach their Grandmothers to suck eggs as one fellow District Governor put it to me ) ? During Covid it was all done successfully on line . Never mind how Rotary justifys  spending over two million dollars on flying 500 Past District Governors again to Florida for something called "Council of Legislation " the ultimate talking shop ........

Anyway the good news is having now completed my year of Office I have been banned from holding any further National or International Office following a complaint of "harassment" by a Rotarain with a a history of mental health issues because I was supposedly made a rude remark to him after a speech I was booked (3 months before) to deliver was cancelled at 24 hours notice without a word of apology.  Too right I was sharp with him : I have never been treated so unprofessionally in my 20 years in Politics . A panel to which I was not allowed to give evidence or cross examine the supposed "witnesses" apparently convicted me ! It make the Parliamentary Standards Committee appear open minded 

Frankly that is the best news I could have had . I have never sort Rotary office and having had a dreadful year of Rotary Politics; one Club being chased by the Lottery Commission for misuse of funds ; another Club being investigated by Rotary for holding an Annual Meeting without telling the Club President ; another Club where none of its members live in the UK never mind London ; another Club that had disappeared into thin air with not even the Club President a paid up Rotarian .......I could go on. You can perhaps see why I will not miss holding Rotary office  .

For those if you with long memories you may remember that most UK towns had an "Round Table" of young men who organised charitable and community activities , that national organisation is long gone and despite Rotary's very credible activities across the UK and despite the millions held in the Bank by the Rotary Foundation (who on earth understands the finances of the Rotary Foundation? )  there is just little hope for Rotary . 

I shall continue working in my Rotary Club to do Community service and good works at home and abroad but even if the entire Board of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland (who are they Ed?) got on their knees I would never hold office in Rotary again ,

Here we go again

So this Tuesday night I got on the 125 bus, I have sold my car and made my way to Hendon Town Hall as is my want to the Annual Meeting (NOT the Annual General Meeting as the Council Press Office called it ) of Barnet Council .I think this may be my thirtieth Annual Meeting of the Council having been every year since 1993 except of course the year Brian Salinger was elected Mayor . The Town Hall was looking tired especially as the spring bedding has died and the Summer bedding has not been planted yet which was something I used to insist on .

One of the bright young Conservative Councillors came up to me and asked if I was going to write a blog this year which I was not planning to do but as they say by popular demand here we go .

The retiring Mayor Councillor Alison Moore has actually been a very good Mayor outside the Chamber . Inside the Chamber whilst chairing meetings she has been a bit too partisan according to one or two Conservative Councillors. She has of course led the Borough over the Platinum Jubilee, the death of the Queen and the Coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla as well as doing the endless round of visits that all Mayors do and all this she has done with due dignity, grace and in a friendly and approachable manner . I will personally always be grateful to her for sparing the time to attend my late Mother's funeral last June . 

Alison has been ably supported by former Councillor Helen Gordon as her Mayoress . Helen had a "reputation" twenty five years ago as a fierce, determined and a firebrand and was universally disliked by the then Conservative Group, and a significant number of Council Officers and rumour had it by a number of her own side but twenty years off the Council has mellowed her and she has behaved as a complete softee as Mayoress and frankly I have been impressed !

In my role on the Executive Committee of the London Mayors Association I see all the 32 Borough Mayors in action at London wide events including the Annual LMA Dinner , the Civic Service in Westminster Abbey and the Mayors walk from Whittington's cat statue to Mansion House . Alison has behaved impeccably and not tried to turn  any occasion into a "selfie" opportunity ( yes Mayor of Lambeth I am thinking of you ) . I am delighted to say that Alison Moore thought it was totally inappropriate when some Mayors thought they should petition the King and ask for an invitation to the Coronation ! 

The London Mayors Association is by the way a non Party Political members organisation for men and women who have been Mayor of a London Borough which organises social events and has increasingly become the guardian of the Civic Mayoralty which is under attack in many of our Boroughs . In fact next Saturday the LMA will undertake its annual "Mayors Training Day " for all the new Mayors (yes Mayors get trained these days !) and in my address I have had to add a section about Mayors taking selfies and that it is not appropriate for the Mayor to ask the King for a kiss during a Royal visit . 

Anyway back to Tuesday night . The big news was the Councillors robes had been cleaned and repaired and the majority of Conservative Councillors looked very smart . I was particularly taken by Councillor Shuey Gordon who told me he was wearing the robe worn by his late Father Councillor Brian Gordon . I am sure the much missed Brian would have been very pleased . Looking tanned and fit was Councillor David Longstaff who had recently returned from the West Indies where he had married his partner of twenty nine years and his Mayoress Gillian who was seated on the back row of the Chamber with a selection of other former Mayors and Mayoresses . Although quite why former Mayor Reuben Thompstone though it necessary to force his nine year old son to sit through the ceremony was beyond me . 

I was seated for a change in the body of the Chamber between the redoubtable Past Mayor Agnes Slocombe and and the senior Past Mayoress on parade (1993/94) Mrs Shelia Lyon now approaching 89. I suspect Shelia and I were the only people in the Chamber who had any clear memories of Mrs Mary Goodman a Past Mayoress who the Mayor announced had died and for whom Councillor Richard Cornelius got up and paid tribute . Nobody realised that the story Richard told about Mary was a mangled version of a Coleman anecdote about another long forgotton Mayoress.....................

Councillor Kath McGuirk disgracefully overlooked for appointment to the Cabinet in her eyes anyway , paid tribute to former East Finchley Labour Councillor and indeed Labour Leader John Davies who retired from Barnet before some members of the new Cabinet were born . Kath reminded us that he fought Mrs Thatcher in the General Election of 1987 and how furious Mrs T was that the declaration was not till half past three in the morning . I was told when she heard David Dimbleby on the BBC saying "Mrs Thatcher is on her way back to Downing Street " she yelled at the TV in the Mayor's Parlour " No I am not I am still stuck here at the Town Hall ! " Barnet counts were ever thus ..............

The new Mayor, Councillor Nagus Narenthira was duly elected and installed and, except that she appears to be a enthusiastic paid up member of the Andrew Dismore appreciation society I suspect she will be fine .

The Leader of the Council (yes still) Councillor Barry Rawlings announced his Cabinet who all seem to have bizarre and meaningless job titles along the lines  of Cabinet Member for Apple Pie and Motherhood. As Councillor Longstaff pointed out the words "Children" , "Education" and "Safeguarding" appear in nobody's job title .  The new Labour Members have merrily voted for the Cabinet system like Turkeys voting for Christmas and have consigned themselves to 3 years of powerlessness on the back benches . Do not say you were not warned ......

Barry's speech on the achievements of the last year was mercifully short (rather like the list of achievements ) and appeared to consist of setting up a Citizens Assembly on climate change and er that is it . Quite what happened to the promised Autumn rebate on Council Tax promised in his speech last year nobody asked but we all know the Officers persuaded him to quietly drop it . 

Well done to Councillor Tony Vourou on being appointed Deputy Mayor . Tony is a fixture on the Barnet Political scene with friends across the Political Parties and rather proves that persistence pays off. Mystery surrounds the Deputy Lieutenant who made a song and a dance of leaving the Chamber early but still managed to be at the buffet afterwards apparently he does not like the Party Politics which creeps into the latter stages of the meeting . I suspect Her Majesty the Queen hated various bits of successive Queens speeches at the opening of Parliament but that is the job . 

Anyway the meeting lasted an hour and twenty minutes and then we all adjourned for the buffet where a good time was had by all and the real business of the evening was done . 

 There was a long list five or six of Labour apologies and one Conservative which if you cannot be bothered to attend the Annual Meeting is a sure sign you are pissed off and that old war horse John Marshall told me he was not attending the Annual Meeting as he hated them when he served on the Council and was blowed if he was attending now he did not  have to (an attitude adopted by a few ex Mayors ) . So as I boarded my 125 bus I thought do I miss it ? You decide reader ! 

 The late Councillor Melvin Cohen an appreciation 

A lot of generous tributes have been paid to Councillor Melvin Cohen who served on Barnet Council for an unprecedented 40 years all that time representing the Golders Green Ward.

Several tributes have come from opponents of the sort Politicians do after death but would never do in life; yes former Councillor Rozenberg I am thinking of you .

The Melvin I knew was a complicated , private and even secretive man . Even his age was a secret. Twenty years ago the Conservative Political Assistant rang me to say he had just had a to complete a Criminal records check form for Melvin who was being reappointed a School Governor and did I realise he was over 60 ? That makes him over 80 at the time of his death but frankly who knows ? 

Twenty Five years ago it was common knowledge in the Conservative Group that Melvin had left his wife and was living with an employee from his legal practice a nice guy called Stephen in Broadfields Avenue in Edgware, a house Melvin continued to live in even when a few years ago Stephen left him and moved to Brighton with somebody else. I suspect though that Melvin remained married to his long suffering wife until the day he died . Melvin was Mayor twice only the second man in the Borough to have that distinction , the first , the late Councillor Vic Usher always claimed that second time around was just not as good , a view I suspect Melvin shared . 

His Mayoresses were neither his wife nor his boyfriend but his ever loyal fellow Councillors Maureen Braun and Wendy Prentice . I would occasionally accompany Melvin on Mayoral events most memorably on Christmas Day 2003 when after four visits the driver took the Mayor home and we were invited in for a Christmas Drink where Stephen passed the Sherry and mince pies and I thought to myself that Melvin could have taken Stephen out with him and no one would have raised an eyebrow.I remember being at Dean's wedding and seeing Stephen standing at the back of the packed Hall at Kinloss and I thought just how sad that was . 

Melvin enjoyed his black leather as the late Rudi Vis never ceased telling the story of bumping into Melvin late one night on the Northern Line kitted out in head to foot in black leather . Indeed in 1995 before I was on the Council a friend and I and the late Councillor Victor Lyon and his wife were guests with Melvin on Hyde Park for the 50th Anniversary of Victory in Europe and whilst Dame Vera Lynn was belting out "We'll meet again " my friend inquired if the black leather was kosher ?

In the days when the Conservative Party Conference used to visit Bournemouth and Melvin would stay at a nice gay owned and run hotel called the Creffield (long since demolished ) where he would happily enjoy the totally non kosher breakfast (he avoided the bacon) and presumably ignored the contents of a certain video channel .

When Mayor if he wanted to do an engagement on the Sabbath (the Lord Mayors Show springs to mind ) he would drive to his office and get the Mayoral Car to pick him up there so the neighbours did not see. My jaw dropped when I heard the Rabbi at the funeral saying Melvin had taken advice about opening a car door on the sabbath.........

Melvin was a solid Conservative , although Councillor Brian Salinger (in the days when he was still talking to me ) one said he had no idea whether Melvin was on the right or the left of the party as he never expressed an opinion . However the best speech I ever heard Melvin make was when he was being challenged for Group office by Cllr Salinger at a Group AGM and Melvin shocked it to Salinger straight between the eyes and was reelected by a big majority . Melvin was also totally loyal to Mike Freer (and I suspect a little bit in love with him) both when Mike was Leader of the Council and later Member of Parliament . 

Melvin was the go to expert on the Council constitution and indeed the Group rules and of course an expert on Planning . Over the years he reduced the public contribution to Planning Committees and sadly even Councillors contribution as he somehow thought the public and indeed local Councillors were a nuisance to the Planning process. 

Of course he helped hundreds of constituents over the years but in the last 15 years of his life was overshadowed by the phenomenon that is his son Dean who runs Golders Green Ward and frankly works his socks off dealing with not always easy residents . It was Dean who inherited the mantle of the late Cllr Rabbi Aba Dunner in Golders Green.

Ill health had overshadowed Melvin for the last 15 years of his life so although his death was a shock to his sons, it was a surprise to absolutely nobody on the Council or in the Conservative Party . In 2021 he was interviewed for the approved list of candidates by Zoom from his hospital bed at the Royal Free and anyone who had seen him in the last 12 months thought he was a walking ghost . 

Was Melvin happy ? Who knows ? I am sure his sons and his grandchildren gave him happiness . He was sadly of that generation of older men who had to keep their sexuality totally private and combined with belonging to a community not known for being gay friendly it was far worse . 

Rest in peace Melvin 

 A Revolution ? I think not 

Last night, with some trepidation I  attended the Annual Meeting of Barnet Council . For the first time in it's fifty seven year history the Council now has an huge Labour majority with 41 Councillors and the Conservative Party is reduced to in effect a rump of 22 Councillors . In fact only 19 Conservatives could be bothered to turn up last night with one apparently having gone on holiday ! 

Having arrived at the Town Hall nothing seemed to have changed , the red flag was not flying from the flag pole and there were a small group of left wing demonstrators outside protesting against Capita's involvement in Council Services ( Note to demonstrators : you have won ).

Having been seated in the past Mayors row at the back of the Chamber along with the other long forgotten Past Mayors and Mayoresses, some wearing better then others, (Scharma, Salinger , Rutter, Rayner , the wonderful Agnes Slocombe and the doyenne of former Mayoresses Mrs Shelia Lyon (whom one Conservative Councillor mistook for my Mother ) , Shelia I am sure was thinking of her late husband the distinguished Victor Lyon who in 2002 lead the victorious campaign that brought the Conservatives to power after eight years and started the twenty years of glorious Conservative rulein Barnet  now ended by Boris Johnson.

I settled down to enjoy the meeting . 

The first shock was the Conservative Councillors appeared without robes ! For anybody with any knowledge of Barnet history this is revolutionary. Frankly I suspect the Councillors robes will not appear again ever . If after four years they can be found they will no doubt disintegrate to the touch . As two (male) Conservative Councillors appeared without ties and certainly Councillor Sarah Wardle has been leading the opposition to the robes since she got elected in 2018 , I suspect she has won ........

The meeting opened with Councillor Melvin Cohen receiving his certificate for forty years continuous service on the Council . Forty years , before most of the bright new Councillors were born . Melvin managed to raise himself from his sick bed for the occasion and made a competent speech . Despite the feeling that the man is a walking by election , I say give him the Freedom of the Borough whilst you can . By the way I noticed John Marshall's name had been painted on the Freedom Board at the back of the Chamber and wish him well as he continues to recover from a broken leg in a nursing home in Hendon .

Retiring Mayor Councillor Alison Cornelius duly reported she had written to the Queen on the occasion of Her Platinum Jubilee . Poor woman hasn't she got enough to worry about than having to plough though yet another fan letter ........

Councillor Alison Moore (Labour East Finchley) was duly elected unopposed as Mayor and did the necessary . I have no problem with the very experienced Alison (she came on the Council with me in 1998) being Mayor and I am sure she will continue in the fine tradition of Barnet Mayors . 

The second shock of the evening was the appointment by the incoming Mayor of her Mayoress none other than former East Finchley Councillor Helen Gordon . For those of you with long political memories in Barnet you may recall I defeated her in the first Greater London Assembly election in 2000 by the slim majority of 551 . This rather finished her political career (she had been considered a shoe in for the seat) as she and her husband (former Colindale Councillor Nat Rudolf ) blamed the then Labour Group for not supporting her enough and both retired from the Council in 2002 to pursue distinguished careers outside of Politics . Nat is now  apparently a QC no less. Well Helen has lost her frizzy perm and will no doubt have a wonderful year escorting Alison in her engagements and reflecting what night have been (or probably not ) .

Councillor Alison Cornelius in her farewell speech to the Mayoralty inexplicably failed to thank the Mayoral staff team at the Council . Without the small and dedicated team lead by the excellent Angela Richardson the Mayoralty and much of the Civic life of the Borough would simply fail to happen . 

Councillor Barry Rawlings was duly elected Leader of the Council for the four year term (how many of those years will he complete one Tory Councillor asked me ?) and made a competent speech declaring an immediate "Climate Emergency" . Well what the dickens does that mean ? Of course nobody has a clue but it sounds good on the press release . He also said the Council would refund the one percent Council tax rise "sometime in the Autumn " . This is absolutely daft as the Council will need the money for services and the admin will probably cost as much as the refund and the average Barnet voter will receive tuppence ha'penny . I am told that a long discussion took place in the Labour Group meeting on that decision . Barry well into his flow also announced several welcome decisions ( well by me anyway) , the restoration of the popular Community skip service (abolished by Matthew Offord when my back was turned ) , the abolition of the residents forums (created by the Lib Dems , always hated by Labour ) which I begged Victor Lyin to abolish in 2002 and he pledged to bring Planning back in house (Hallelujah!). He also committed his administration to building a 1000 new Council Houses , a very dangerous commitment as if you build 999 you have failed to meet you target . Of course the question is where do you build when you are committed to defending the Green Belt ?

Barry failed to mention the Hendon Hub , regeneration or Capita . All three issues which I suspect for contractual and other reasons Labour will be forced to quietly backtrack on . However there was nothing in the speech to frighten the horses or to suggest to the good folk of Totteridge that they rush down to the Estate Agents and put their houses on the market ! 

Councillor Dan Thomas now looking fresh and young again with the pressures of office lifted (was that a new suit Dan ?) made a wholly responsible and dignified speech in reply wishing the new administration well . This was somewhat undermined by a totally inappropriate speech by Conservative (currently) Deputy Leader David Longstaff . Word of advise David , when you have suffered the worse defeat in Barnet Council's history less than 3 weeks ago and when you have a packed public gallery of the great and the good . If I were you David I would watch my back in the Group Leadership elections in September . My money is on Councillor Prager (not a LITTLE prick I am assured by those who know ) or Councillor Sarah Wardle .

Anyway Alison Moore received full marks for her chairing of the Council Meeting and handled it with charm and courtesy .

Then on to the Mayoral Reception afterwards where it was good to see a number of former Councillors, Peter Zinkin and Sach Rajput having licked their wounds and Allan Turner , the old socialist warhorse of Burnt Oak and Jim Tierney of West Finchley now looking frail but still kind enough to ask after my mother .

It was also good to meet new Barnet Conservatives Councillors (the future ?) Councillor Shuey Gordon, son of my good friend the late Councillor Brian Gordon , but please turn your bloody phone off during meetings , Councillor Josh Conway great nephew of anther good friend the late Councillor Anthony Finn and Councillor Michael Mire of Garden Suburb who seems far to sensible and level headed to be a Councillor .

Oh well for those who remember the crazy days of Labour in the 1980, refusing to stand for the Mayor , attacking the Queen , appearing in the Council in shorts , breast feeding babies in the Chamber the new Administration  appears positively moderate and certainly not socialist . Will they make the mistakes of the last Lab / Lib coalition as a result ? Time will tell .

Meanwhile a revolution it simply isn't !

DEBACLE !

Ah a new Coleman blog after nearly 3 years ! What monumentos event has prompted this ? Well Thursday's Barnet Council elections which resulted in the Conservatives losing control of the Council for the first time since 1998 and failing to be the largest party on the Council for the first time since the Borough was created in 1964 .

Apparently the Barnet Conservatives are conducting a review of what when wrong so here are my thoughts .

The complete re-warding of the Borough by the over enthusiastic Boundary Commission caused endless problems . If it " aint broke dont fix it" has always been a useful moto and Barnet having managed with 3 member wards since 1964 was presented with a mish mash of two and three member wards , some with silly names (where is Barnet Vale or Edgwarebury ) and Councillors fighting each other for the nominations . 

The starting gun was fired, far to prematurely by Hendon Conservative Association last Summer who decided they wanted to get all their nominations done before the Holidays . Combined with a (ridiculous ) change in Conservative Party rules Hendon Conservatives went at selection like a bull in  a china shop .A relatively small number of members in Hendon ward managed in a matter of minutes on Zoom to dispose of Councillor Anthony Finn (former Mayor , 32 years service and a nice man) and Councillor Nizza Fluss (loud but very effective ) . Councillor Finn was disposed of without so much as a by your leave let alone a thank you and his death earlier this year may well have been hastened by the disgraceful behavior of his Conservative Association . Councillor Fluss had become a thorn in the side of the Leader of the Council , Councilor Thomas, by her principled and vocal opposition to the so called "Hendon Hub" , the absurd joint development with Middlesex University which post pandemic looks even more unnecessary and which Labour has promised to disentangle the Borough from.

This was soon followed by Edgware ward deselecting Councillor Linda Freedman (a one term wonder who had achieved very little) and Mill Hill deciding to dispense with the services of Councillor Golnar Bokaei , a Councillor from a Middle Eastern background who did wonders for the diversity of the Tory Group and was not bad at planning . "What has Golnar done wrong ? " asked one Conservative Councillor ?" well all three woman were replaced by men ...................

Linda decided to not bother anymore , Golnar reluctantly accepted the decision and went on to bravely fight the safe Labour Ward of Woodhouse in the Finchley and Golders Green Association but Nizza appealed citing no less than 18 breaches of the Conservative Party rules by the Hendon Association . The Conservative Party Area Officers found the rules had indeed been breached and ordered Hendon Ward selection to be re run . Nizza knew she was on a loser anyway as a number of new members had been mysteriously signed up and so it proved when at the rerun selection the three candidates were conformed as Councillor Mark Shooter (a cheerleader for the Hendon Hub ) Joshua Conway ( nephew of the aforementioned Councillor Finn ) and the hugely ambitious Councillor Alex Prager who had done the chicken run from West Hendon which boundary changes had left virtually unwinnable . Councilor Prager , "a cocky little P***k " as one of his colleagues described him to me, is a possible future leader of the Conservative Group in the mode of his idol Councillor Mark Shooter .

Of course that was not the end of Hendon Association's selection problems as in Spring this year the Association took the emergency decision to deselect Councillor Helene Richman from West Hendon Ward . Why bother ? She was not going to win . Most people who had met her realised she was bonkers and yet they had still reselected her . I had lunch with her once and found I could not get a word in the conversation ........imagine it .

Anyway Helene appealed. The Area Officers allowed her appeal but decided not to tell her till the Sunday to allow for Jewish sensibilities . Helene is Jewish and bizarrely had been deselected for alleged anti Semitic remarks made to her fellow candidate . However meanwhile on the Saturday she had flounced off to join the dustbin of Barnet Politics that is the local Lib Dems with all the resultant bad publicity . The only good news out of the whole Barnet elections is that once again there are no Lib Dems on Barnet Council and former Councillor Gabriel Rozenberg , the son of that great charmer Melanie Phillips, is now a busted flush . He decided to stand in West Finchley Ward where he seriously thought he could win . Lib Dem headquarters said the local Party should put their effort into Church End ward but Gabriel explained it was all about him .................

Good luck with your parliamentary ambitions in the new Finchley and Muswell Hill Parliamentary seat Gabriel , you certainly have the ego for it ! 

Anyway back to Conservative selections . Finchley and Golders Green were faced with the problem that two of their safe wards Golders Green and Garden Suburb were reducing to two members each .Councillor John Marshall , the great Tory warhorse obliged by announcing he was standing down . Councillor Reuben Thompstone found himself edged out in Golders Green by the hard working and heading for sainthood Councillor Dean Cohen and his increasingly frail father Councillor Melvin Cohen . Indeed Melvin was apparently placed on the approved list of Conservative candidates following an interview conducted by lap top from his hospital bed at the Royal Free . Sadly Melvin appears to be the walking by election of the new Council .

Meanwhile Reuben found himself rejected by the Conservative members in Childs Hill , Garden Suburb and even Brunswick Park in Chipping Barnet . A bit of advise Reuben ditch the silly moustache and do not talk about "social inclusion " to audiences who have no idea what it is and probably against it anyway ! Reuben finally got selected for Underhill ward where apparently Theresa Villiers MP was knocking up on polling day ! (just why ?ed )

Chipping Barnet Conservative Association had their selection problems . Councillor Richard Cornelius presided over the East Barnet selection where apparently he knew he was breaking the rules but did not care and the Area Officers once again had to ride to the rescue . Councillor Felix Byers (the cute one) was reselected although I do not believe he told the members that he was going to have his civil partnership ceremony during the campaign and bugger off to Norway for the honeymoon . The resulting deselection of Councillor Nicole Richer led to much crying and wailing from Nicole who had managed to get deselected only one year after achieving a stunning by election win. That is some going ! Nicole who is known for bursting into floods of tears when things do not go right shed a load more on election night when she lost in Brunswick Park Ward (replacing Councillor Roberto Weeden-Sanz (who had wisely buggered off to Kensington and Chelsea .seeing Barnet as a lost cause )  Is she the briefest serving  Barnet Councillor since 1964 ? I think she may be. If you cannot cope with the losing do not stand is my advise !

Anyway candidates finally all in place what were the issues ? Frankly who knows ? A manifesto was produced presented to the Conservative Group for rubber stamping (nothing is discussed in Group anymore ) and appeared to say what Conservative were against . We were against getting rid of the weekly bin collection , against tower blocks (except in West Hendon , Finchley Central and when we are not ) against Low Traffic Neighbourhoods ( but happy to let Officers run riot on the A1000 ) and against high Council Tax (but happy to put it up to the Government maximum in non election years ). T.

But of course none of all this made a major impact on the results . There was one issue Boris . He has never been hugely popular in this Borough and I have before questioned his fitness to be Prime Minister long before Covid and Party gate . The people of Barnet had had enough of Boris and duly punished their hard working Conservative Councillors .

The future? with only 22 Conservative Councillors the gene pool is small . Councillor Dan Thomas can stagger on for a year but no former Leader of Barnet has ever made a comeback . No doubt Dan will appreciate the freedom of  being able to keep his tan topped up, rumours are he went away for Easter weekend (Shurley not Ed !). A number of bright younger candidates expected to get elected failed . The Conservative Group will hopefully not do a repeat of 1994 when they threw out leadership lock stock and barrel and put in Councillors with little experience who struggled for four years . 

When we won back the Council in 2002 we fought on a manifesto that was firm and strong. I wish the new Labour Council well especially as they undue some of the dafter decisions of the last few years, Hendon Hub , North Finchley regeneration and of course the horrendous partnership with Capita that has proved a disaster and has had Tory Councillors tearing their hair out .

Oh well annual Council elections anyone ?

 

Boris Johnson

 After five years of not posting a blog (although I have been active on Twitter ) I feel moved to write with my views on Boris Johnson as it appears likely that he may well win the Conservative Leadership contest and become our next Prime Minister .

I know Boris . I worked with Boris . I was the first Member of the London Assembly to endorse Boris' candidature for the London mayoralty . I last spoke to him a year ago at a Party he threw at No1 Carlton Gardens , the Official residence of the Foreign Secretary to mark ten years since he was first elected Mayor of London .

Boris was a poor judge of character . I lost count of the many so called "Deputy Mayors" and Senior Aides who passed through City Hall in my four years :Nick Boles (Head of Transition)  lasted a month , Ray Taylor (totally bonkers) lasted three months ,Tim Parker (on another Planet )  and of course Ian Clement (fiddled his expenses ) spring to mind . Then there were people with no experience of Local Government Munira Mirza (did not like being called "Dear" ) Isabel Dedring, Transport (hated and ignored by TfL Officers) Kulveer Ranger (who once cried on my shoulder because he had lost his Secretary ), Matthew Pencharz ( a nice boy but well out of his depth) . Pam Chesters , a good choice as health advisor but totally undermined by Boris when he ordered her to reinstate Mars Bars in the City Hall canteen.

These inexperienced advisors are no doubt partly, along with Boris ego , the reason for so many failed and pointless Capital projects . Boris Island , the East London Cable Car , the Garden Bridge ...

However he did hire Sir Simon Milton who brought some order to the chaotic situation Boris had created at City Hall, not least by Boles decision to sack everyone who had worked for Ken (except for the excellent Neale Coleman , no relation ) . Boles also ignored all advice from those of us who had been a City Hall for eight years ( Barnes , Evans , Arbour and me ) who knew how the system worked and how to get things done . Apparently Boles said we were "passe" so Roger Evans called us the "passe posse ". Within weeks of Boris taking office we went from being ignored to having Boris appointees asking us out for lunch for "advice" . Once Sir Simon Milton arrived full time as Chief of Staff he ended up taking all the decisions and in my view driving himself to an early grave  as a result . A year before Simon Milton died I confronted Boris in the City Hall lift and said that Simon was working too hard ( he was then in hospital ) and Boris dismissed it with a wave of the hand . When Simon died Boris was genuinely upset and took my advice to have a car to attend the funeral as the Cemetery is a long walk from the tube station and I did not want him to be late for that event . In the end Boris was on time (for once) and the dreadful Baroness Warsi (who was representing the Prime Minister)  was late and kept us all waiting  Sir Edward Lister who followed Simon as Chief of Staff did keep the show on the road and did the detail which Boris never did .

We all know about Boris's dress sense but at his first City Hall London Remembrance Service when I asked his aide to give Boris a black tie to wear he said "we have tried Brian but he won't" . I recall Ken Livingstone always putting a black tie on before laying the wreath.

I served for four years as Chairman of the London Fire and Planning Authority , the body since abolished which had control of the 6000 staff and £330 million budget of London's Fire Brigade . As such I, my Deputy and the Commissioner  met with Boris "officially" every 5 or 6 months to brief him on matters Fire which usually he was not the slightest bit interested in . The first half of the meeting was often spent telling him what I had told him at the last meeting . During the weekend of the Lakhanal House Fire in July 2009 which killed 6 people , I was told Boris wanted to visit on Monday morning for a photo opportunity . I had to explain that it was a possible crime scene and that neither the Mayor nor anybody else could trample all over it . Boris made do with ill tempered visit to Peckham Fire Station instead .

His performance at the monthly Mayor's question time at City Hall was dreadful in the early days and to the frustration of Assembly colleagues ( including Kit Malthouse) did not really improve . Kit was a very competent Deputy Mayor for Policing but was distrusted by Boris for being "the City Hall Leaker " . It was Kit who was responsible for getting Boris to sack Met Commissioner Ian Blair . " he was going wobbly right up to the last minute , I gave him the balls " was Kit's comment to me afterwards .

Boris just simply never read the briefs or prepared for his speeches . At one Lord Mayor of London's London Governance Dinner he could be seen scribbling notes on the napkin during the meat course. At a Board of Deputies Annual Dinner I had actually sent him a three point brief for his speech which was thank the Community for their support in your election , express your admiration for the State of Israel and finally support the role out of Jewish Community Schools in London . Stuart Polak , Director of CFI told me before Dinner he had sent Boris a brief as well . Instead he made a speech about buses to a room full of the great and the good of the Jewish Community who rarely use them !

At the Annual Lord Mayor's Banquet one year he told me the " only way to get through events like this Brian is drink all the alcohol on offer !"

At a briefing for the Security for the G20 London Summit in April 2009 at which I was present,as the Police explained how in the event of trouble President Obama would be evacuated by river down the Thames from ExCel  Boris eyes wandered after a couple of minutes and he suddenly said "just tell me when will I appear on television ?"

At a briefing meeting held in Boris' Office in 2011 during the Inquests into the deaths of the victims of the 7/7 bombings I was telling Boris how the Fire Authority was having to spend a sizable sum on lawyers (as were the Met , TfL and everybody else involved ) not least because Mrs Justice Hallett was cutting up rough as Coroner when he suddenly said " I blame Tony Blair for all this , he started it with the Marchioness (Inquest) " Guto Harri, who was Boris' Head of Communications and at the time absolutely devoted to Boris , said " Oh Boris they are really for the families (of the victims) benefit " To which Boris replied "Fuck the families , Fuck the families !"  . I was having none of this and snapped at Boris  " You didn't have to write eight letters of condolence to families of your constituents or attend the funeral of 31 year old Lee Baisden ( a Fire Authority employee) who had been blown to pieces at Aldgate and comfort his poor widowed Mother " .

After this meeting the ever loyal Guto Harri rang me up and said "it never happened Brian , it never happened" . Sorry Guto it did and I have witnesses .

Well since I left City Hall ( you were thrown out by the voters ED) , things have certainly changed sadly I don't think Boris has . As one female Boris aide said to me "Boris' trouble is he cannot keep it in his trousers" . Oh if that was his only problem .

A rareity - A nice man in Politics

The death on October 9th at the age of 78 of Sir Sydney Chapman, whilst not unexpected by those of us who saw him at the funeral of his former Association Chairman and President Don Goodman a month earlier, has nevertheless caused an immense amount of sadness to many in Chipping Barnet .

Sydney came to Barnet in 1979 having been Chairman of the National Committee of the Young Conservatives ( when they were a power in Land) and four years as Member of Parliament for Birmingham Handsworth  . Having lost his seat in the "who governs Britain " election of February 1974, Sydney spent 5 years fruitlessly touring the Country looking for another seat until being selected ( unexpectedly beating the local favourite Bob Brum ) in Chipping Barnet following the death of the alcoholic former Home Secretary Reggie Maudling .

Maudling despite holding two of the Great Offices of State , Chancellor under Sir Alec Douglas Home and Home Secretary, until disgraced, under Edward Heath had an appalling reputation as a Constituency MP . Maudling lived just outside Potters Bar but was seen rarely in his constituency, rumour has it only twice a year for his Association Christmas Bazaar and AGM. Every five years he turned up at his re-adoption meeting .

This was not a mistake Sydney Chapman was going to make . He was an assiduous Constituency MP moving into Ravenscroft Park and later Salisbury Road, sending his children to local schools and at weekends carrying out endless engagements at school fetes , Church services , community activities and even turning up on Christmas Day to greet the elderly guests at the Barnet and East Barnet Rotary Club Lunch. He was an Honorary  Member and assiduous supporter of the Rotary Club and so many other local organisations . However Monday to Thursday and sometimes Friday he was at Westminster as being a traditional MP he believed his constituents had elected him to turn up at Westminster and speak up for them there. Not for him the "glorified Social worker " approach which some modern MPs have adopted.

This approach paid off not least in 1997 where at the count at Hendon Sports Centre , Sydney saw colleagues from neighbouring constituencies fall on huge swings to Labour . As Portillo , John Marshall and the bone idle Sir John Gorst disappeared under the red tide Sir Sydney became more and more agitated "I'm out, I'm out, I'm finished " he told despondent constituency workers . Having been instructed to pull himself together by his now former wife Claire he survived by 1035 votes after a fraught recount at 5.30am in the morning . The swing in Chipping Barnet was one of the lowest in North London . I lost count of the number of doorsteps in that campaign where voters said we are fed up with the Tory party but will vote for Sydney . That election was a new experience for Sydney as rather than tour the Country supporting friends in marginal seats he found himself defending one , indeed I remember his shock at having doors slammed in his face ( Mayfield Avenue )  although Arsenal were playing a European match that night which probably had more to do with it . His usual relaxed election day routine of touring Committee rooms and have a leisurely dinner was dumped at the urgent entreaties of his more realistic agent , in favour of sitting on the telephone knocking up

Diligent in dealing with Constituency correspondence his wife Claire was an advert for why MPs should employ their relations , he never interfered or commented on matters which were the remit of his local Councillors . He was always totally loyal to his Conservative Councillor colleagues not least he realised they were his eyes and ears on the ground in the Constituency. Indeed when spending cuts forced the closure of the underused Totteridge Library, constituents who wrote to him received a polite reply in which he pointed out Barnet Council had lost a substantial amount of it's central Government grant and as ever it was the fault of the wicked Labour Government .

Sydney immensely enjoyed his years as a whip especially  in his dealings with Her Majesty the Queen whilst serving as Vice Chamberlain of the Household . His clever, amusing and easy to read memoirs "Back to the drawing Board" clearly show his rapport with HM . When John Major sacked him in 1995 he apparently said to Sydney whilst sitting at the Cabinet table "Sydney , there is good news and bad news , the bad news is I need to make room for younger men but the news is the Queen has approved an immediate Knighthood for you " . The reaction from the newly knighted Sydney Chapman was " I really wanted to be a Privy Councillor" .

It was rare to hear Sydney say a cross word about anyone . However he was no pushover and had firmly held views. In 2001 I heard him firmly put down Roger Gale MP who was canvassing support for a possible David Davis leadership bid with "Where was David in the 97 Parliament when I had to return to the front bench to be shadow Minister for London ? Off indulging himself as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee ! " A supporter of William Hague's Leadership campaign in 97 Sydney was firmly in the Ken Clarke camp by 2001.

He enjoyed his work on the Council of Europe and was as supporter of Cyprus not least because it allowed him to travel around Europe with his mates from the House of Commons of all Parties. Indeed his friendship with the late Rudi Vis MP for Finchley and Golders Green was strong and Rudi came  to the renaming of the Hadley Green Slip Road as "Sydney Chapman Way" when Barnet Council marked Sydney's 25 years as MP for Chipping Barnet . They both also shared a mutual antipathy to the Borough's then third MP .

It was no secret that Sydney enjoyed a drink and a convivial dinner. Indeed at  Sydney's retirement Dinner at Hatfield House in 2005 the guest speaker William Hague remarked in his speech " that Sydney was so well regarded in Chipping Barnet that the Council had named a road after him , Sydney Chapman Way , presumably the way to the Pub !" That brought the house down with Sydney leading the laughter . However Sydney's after dinner speeches were legendary and it seemed to me the more red wine he had consumed the funnier the speech . At the 2000 Party Conference it fell to Sydney to deliver the speech at the Agents dinner, the then customary black tie curtain raiser to the week and despite it being past 11pm and the end of a long evening Sydney's speech was one of the cleverest and funniest I have ever heard.

Never stuck in his ways and always available to listen , I am not sure he quite forgave me for getting him out canvassing on a Sunday afternoon in my 2000 GLA election . "Is this really necessary ?" he asked but when I won by a narrow margin of just 551 he conceded it had been !

However Sydney Chapman was that extreme rarity , a genuinely nice man in Politics , loyal to his Party , loyal to his friends , and loyal to his constituents.

Seal Hunting Anyone ?

It is the weekend before a Tuesday meeting of Barnet Council and any Councillor worth their salt will be spending time reading the Agenda papers for the meeting . Buried in the small print on page 74 of the Council Agenda in the list of vacancies for Local Authority appointed School Governors is Garden Suburb Infant and Juniors where their is a vacancy due to the "self disqualification" of Conservative Councillor Daniel Seal . Self Disqualification means that the individual has failed to attend any meetings of the School Governing Body or it's Committees in the previous six months :it is not a resignation ,it is a disqualification from office under the Education Act . Now most schools only have a termly meeting of their full Governing Body and Governors with busy lives can get themselves caught out if they miss two Governing Body meetings  on the trot but as Governors are usually expected to serve on a  Committee as well , perhaps Finance or Pupil welfare that sort of thing, it always possible to ensure that you have attended one meeting at the school in six months .

Indeed if you cannot attend any official meetings in six moths what on earth is the point of serving on a School Governing Body in these days when so many legal and other responsibilities rest with Governors ?

I have known some Councillors who to avoid the embarrassment of being disqualified from a  School Governing Body or indeed other public bodies to which Councillors are appointed and the six month rule applies, have resigned ahead of the inevitable disqualification .

However Councillor Daniel Seal as they say "has form" .

His attendance at meetings of the Council is erratic to put it mildly  . In 2013 he appeared at the Annual Meeting of the Council in May and then missed two meeting in a row and only appeared at full Council again in November . In the same month  he was absent at the meeting of the Pensions Committee of the Council , which he had lobbied hard to get appointed to .

Councillor Seal , Danny to his friends, of whom I am not one , first got elected to Barnet Council for Garden Suburb Ward in 2010 replacing the adorably beautiful but politically pointless Councillor Jazmin Naghar , who appeared in the pages of "Tatler" more often then she did the "Ham and High" . Councillor Naghar although active at election time was apparently virtually invisible in the Ward the rest of the time, relying on that old war horse Councillor John Marshall to do the Ward work particularly planning, which John enjoys. The selection of Danny Seal, backed by John Marshall was seen as opting for a young ,enthusiastic, ambitious  and clever new Councillor over others who applied for the safe Conservative seat but were seen as "the usual faces, hard working but not dynamic" .

The voters of Garden Suburb ward duly did their duty and sent the handsome Councillor Seal (If you like the sort of puppy dog eyes look ) to the Town Hall. Alarm bells however soon began to ring with many colleagues seeing Danny, whilst sharp, as "cocky" or as some less charitable old hands put it "arrogant, with nothing to be arrogant about". His enthusiastic support for his buddy Councillor Mark Shooter in the various Leadership battles of 2010/11 left many Chipping Barnet Conservative Councillors feeling distinctly cold towards him .

He is a young man keen to make his fortune in business , and there is of course nothing wrong with that, but the first lesson in Politics , whether local or national is that half the job is turning up. Cllr Seal's has treated his twitter  followers over the last few weeks to tweets from his Italian skiing holiday over Christmas and the New Year , his business trip to South Korea , the Executive Lounge at Gatwick, the BA Galleries lounge at Heathrow (the potatoes were cold apparently), Jersey Airport, and this weekend, when most Barnet Councillors were attending Holocaust Commemoration his followers, with impeccable timing , were treated to tweets from Munich , the spiritual home of Nazism !

Sadly lacking are many tweets from Hampstead Garden Suburb .

Councillor Richard Cornelius , the Leader of Barnet Council is telling anyone who will listen that Cllr Seal's attendance record is "a disgrace" and is apparently, so rumour has it, is lobbying Finchley and Golders Green Conservatives to deselect him. Richard is worried that should the May elections go badly for the Tories and they end up with a majority of one or two, Cllr Seal's absence will be a luxury the Conservative Group cannot afford . Cllr Richard Cornelius is of course as usual supported by his wife , Councillor Alison Cornelius who is distrustful of many of the Jewish Councillors whom she sees as a threat to her husband's leadership.

Meanwhile Councillor Andrew Harper , the third Garden Suburb Member is retiring from the Council having realised he will never be able to bore the Conservative Group into recognising his talents and electing him Leader . He is to be replaced by  another bright , young ambitious Jewish guy Gabriel Rozenberg , the son of the "voice of sensible middle England", Melanie Phillips and the distinguished legal journalist Joshua Rozenberg . Gabriel is considered a safer bet than Seal as he is married with a family and not likely to spend most of his time tweeting from Business class airport lounges .

Finally  Councillor Seal's tells us on twitter that in April he will be in New York . So who is going to knock on doors in Garden Suburb Ward ? Ah step forward Councillor John Marshall who as so often in Barnet Politics will be riding to the rescue !

Could it happen here ?

The dreadful events at the Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi where gunmen from the al-Shabab group have murdered innocent shoppers including women and children in a random act of terrorism have inevitably caused questions to be asked if it could happen here in the UK ?

In the late Autumn of 2010 COBRA , which stands for Cabinet Office Briefing Room A, where it happens to meet , was called after specific intelligence had been received that there was a threat to attack British shopping centres  in the run up to Christmas . The intelligence apparently related to Shopping complexes such as Brent Cross, Lakeside , Meadowhall in Sheffield and  Trafford in Greater Manchester and those attending COBRA had the events in Mumbai a couple of years earlier at the forefront of their minds .

In a rare occurrence the Prime Minister lost his temper when he learnt that in any terrorist incident or indeed any incident involving an armed suspect, firefighters and para medics would stay outside the security cordon until the Police stated that the armed suspect had been dealt with . Even if a building was on fire or there were wounded members of the public needing treatment firefighters and para medics would stay outside the cordon not least due to the danger of being shot themselves by a gunman. The Prime Minister had visions of Sky News filming the scene and of firefighters and para medics sitting around and perceived by the viewing public to be taking no action .

Those who had not seen the Prime Minister lose his temper before realised that he meant business and  that the situation had to change and he had  successfully put a rocket up the Fire Service (and indeed the Ambulance Service).  Indeed one very senior official told me he did not want to be at the end of a "Cameron roasting" again !

Meetings were held with Fire Chiefs in several large cities (London , Birmingham, Manchester and others ) , the then Fire Minister ( Bob Neil ) called in the Fire Brigades Union , who for once put the National interest first and a small number of firefighters in our major cities (the majority in London )  were trained in how to operate wearing bullet proof protection and how to behave in the event of an armed incident . This issue has remained of deep interest to the Prime Minister, I recall him discussing it with firefighters when he visited Tottenham Fire Station in the aftermath of the 2011 Summer riots and I have no doubt that David Cameron's personal efforts on this have made the UK better prepared in the event of a Nairobi style attack.

Cornelius attacks Coleman : Coleman reponds !

Coleman Emergency : Rams takes action !

"Launch Thunderbird Two ! "

Coleman latest : Leader issues her instructions !

" Richard , do something about him "

"Yes Dear "

Councillor David Longstaff reads my Blog !

Barnet's Conservative Councillors

Ever wondered what the remaining 37 Conservative Councillors are really like ?

Well here is your short guide in no particular order

Councillor Brian Salinger (Oakleigh Ward) now 65 served since 1986 with four years on Haringey before that . Had an unpleasant skirmish with the Local Government Ombudsman ( before the Standards Committee was ever invented ) in the late 80s over a planning application . Has never recovered from losing the Council and Group Leadership after the 2006 local elections in a coup organised by the late great Lynne Hillan  and others (including me ) which has lead to a long "Ted Heath " like sulk . Whilst Leader was nicknamed by the Officers "Dr Stranglove " (remember Peter Sellers played all the parts ) after his Leadership was nicknamed "Napoleon" , because he had been a very short leader .
Still thinks he will be summoned back from the wilderness (voted against "One Barnet" in the Conservative Group) but was shocked this year when he was well beaten (by Cllr Melvin Cohen )  in the internal Conservative ballot to be Mayor this year. Yes there is a Conservative Councillor more unpopular than me .

Councillor Mrs Kate Salinger  (Coppetts Ward) Kate was elected against the odds in 2006 in what should be a safe Labour Ward mainly through her sheer hard work locally . The local Conservative Association thought she did not stand a chance but let her get on with it anyway. Since her defiance of the whip over Members allowances (seen as the worst betrayal by many colleagues)  the Conservative Leadership have done all in their power to ensure she loses her seat in 2014 , trying to close Friern Barnet Library , ensuring a nice big waste facility and depot on Pinkham Way. Made probably the most disastrous Maiden speech on the Council in recent times when she burst into song , something she is known for after a long evening. Her failed Standards Board complaint against her colleague Cllr Andreas Tambourides cost the taxpayer around £50,000 and ensured the enmity between the Tambourides and the Salingers continues. Not likely to survive 2014 despite the respect which many residents in her Ward have for her hard work . More right wing than her husband and more popular .

Councillor Mrs Wendy Prentice ( High Barnet Ward) Hard working former Mayor (and now Mayoress to Melvin Cohen ) on first name terms with many residents of her Ward particularly in Hadley where she has lived for decades and used to deal with her Ward work whilst walking her dog every morning. No push over and will fight when roused . Saw off the Lib Dems in High Barnet . Her finest hour was Chairing the Group meeting that saw the end of Brian Salinger's Leadership . Safe pair of hands as Chairman of Planning . Quite happy to shock people with her outrageous hair colour . Will top the poll in her ward in 2014 as everybody knows her and likes her . One of the few members of the Conservative Group who demonstrates any loyalty.

Councillor David Longstaff (High Barnet Ward) former Labour Party member and indeed Parish Councillor , bit part actor . Who can forget his role as a drunken elf in the Christmas edition of Casualty or was it Holby City , I forget.............His personal web site contains a video of his stand up act which is about as funny as his speeches in the Council Chamber . Then there was the episode of my favourite Drama "Lewis" where he played a Friar definitely not a monk !Was a Salinger protege but managed to get appointed to the Cabinet by distancing himself from them . Considered promoted too soon and a lightweight and seems to think that being in charge of "Community Safety" means when the Borough Police Commander says jump you reply how high ? Has no concept of holding the Police to account and did little to attempt to save the two Police Stations being closed in the Borough once he knew that High Barnet in his ward was safe. In charge of the latest misguided attempts at North Finchley regeneration under his leadership the scheme will no doubt go the way of all the rest over the years, which several people think is why Richard Cornelius ( who at heart is a free marketer) put him in charge of it . Upset the Jewish Community big time with a disgraceful anti Eruv performance at the Area Planning Committee that left many fellow Conservatives reeling. Unlikely to get many votes from Barnet Synagogue next year

Councillor Mrs Eva Greenspan (Church End Ward ) Long serving (1990) former Mayor , hugely popular in the Jewish Community and loves her Planning on which she works hard  . Has failed to convince various Conservative Leaders over the years to make her Chairman of the Planning Committee . Was a very generous Mayor but her farewell speech when she described herself as "the Peoples Mayors" did raise a few Conservative eye brows. Has a low boredom threshold and can rarely sit still during a Council meeting . Must have the highest mobile phone bill of anyone on the Council . Known for her elegance and exquisit dress sense . Forms part of the "Orthodox block vote" in the Conservative Group which Leaders upset at their peril .

Councillor Dan Thomas (Church End Ward) Young , ambitious , blond, good looking and intelligent , Deputy Leader of the Council. Protege of Mike Freer . Known for his frequent exotic holidays to keep his tan up . In 2010 considered jumping ship and was actually interviewed by Bexley Conservatives for a seat on Bexley Council as he was then virtually living and working there. Fought some God forsaken South Wales Parliamentary Constituency at the last General election and no doubt if a winnable Parliamentary seat came up he would grab it with both hands . In his early Cabinet days was not known for his hard work ( in 6 months as Cabinet Member for the Environment 2009/10 he failed to hold one "theme " meeting with his Senior Officers) however his work rate has improved . Ditched the Ferrari and the Porche with the personalised number plate in favour of the sensible Smart car . Paranoid about his receding hair line but a dab hand in the kitchen . His career in Barnet probably hinges on the success of "One Barnet" .  He will, I suspect  eventually become bored with Local Government and indeed Barnet.

Councillor Barry Evangelli  (East Barnet Ward) Protoege of Andreas Tambourides and to some extent Lynne Hillan . Made a good Deputy Mayor and, if he can hold East Barnet Ward will no doubt be Mayor sometime between 2014/18 . Seems to have stopped the attempts to hold back the years by dying his hair and is just about "out" these days as a "Silver fox" .In the battles in the Group always on the side of the Good Guys !

Councillor John Marshall (Garden Suburb Ward) now 73 but this old war horse just keeps on going . Has held every office known to man , Mayor , MP, MEP , Councillor , as somebody once said to me "good thing we don't have Parish Councils or else he would stand for that as well !"
A brilliant campaigner and frankly works twice as hard as most Councillors half his age. Everybody, south of the North Circular is on first name terms with John although many of them stabbed him in the back in the 1997 General Election a fact I suspect he found hard to come to terms with. Has ensured the Lib Dems are now an irrelevance in Garden Suburb ward and will easily top the poll in 2014 . Always at the heart of  whatever conspiracy is going on in the Conservative Group in recent years has consistently backed the wrong candidates in Leadership elections .He ran the disastrous Leadership campaign for his ward colleague Cllr Andrew Harper in 2011 and was perceived as a Salinger supporter. Known for a bit of name dropping "As Betty Boothroyd once said to me" .......His well deserved knighthood does not look like it is coming.

Councillor Andrew Strongolou (Underhill Ward) Drafted in at the last moment in 2010 to replace Fiona Bulmer in Underhill Ward who had quit in a huff because she did not win the Tory Leadership. Managed to get elected mainly because sitting Conservative Councillor Daniel Webb found it difficult to hide his contempt for many Underhill residents . Has never really taken to the Council and is totally semi detached. Not standing in 2014 . Managed to get done for drink driving ( three times over the limit I believe ) at Hammersmith Magistrates  soon after being elected to the Council which the Tory Leadership successfully hushed up , local journalists did not even notice. Looking increasingly bizarre these days and has resisted calls to get his hair cut . Struggled for work but is probably the only Councillor on Barnet to have appeared in a Stephen Spielberg film (eat your heart out Longstaff) .

Councillor Rowan Turner (as most of us still call him ) (Underhill Ward) elected in 2010 in this highly marginal Ward . A very intelligent young , church going decent guy and suitably right wing . Decided to add his wife's surname to his when he got married (against advise) which makes him sound like a snob or a poof or even worst a feminist , he is none of these . If he survives in 2014 is no doubt destined for high office in the current Administration of "Boys" . Impeccable manners unusual for someone his age, and has been shocked by the rudeness of some residents and bloggers.

Councillor Graham Old (Church End Ward ) Another nice guy who has been around politically a long time . Served on Merton Council with Theresa May but best known for losing in Hale Ward in 1994 which handed Barnet to the Lib/ Lab coalition . Nicknamed by one senior Barnet Tory as the "Councillor for Narnia " because he is so far back in the closet . Hates the infighting since he came on in 2010 but is no Brian Salinger fan . Nice , certainly not stupid , hardworking but sadly a bit wet .

Councillor Danny Seal ( Garden Suburb Ward ) Won the highly coveted Conservative nomination in Garden Suburb Ward in 2010 . An early associate of Councillor Mark Shooter to whom he attached his waggon but when Shooter's star burst rather lost interest in the Council. Spends a lot of time in Israel where he apparently has business interests and is rarely seen at the Town Hall . Missed the last two Council meetings and has not attended a full Council meeting since the Annual meeting in May. Always thought that Mike Freer was God . Rumour is John Marshall carries him in the Ward and detailed ward work is not his forte . I suspect more interested in making his first million than chairing a Scrutiny Committee ( and who can blame him ) . Cornelius will not touch him with a barge pole. Seal may well not feature on the ballot paper in 2014 . Cocky and thought he knew it all when elected considered a worthy successor to former Councillor Daniel Webb .

Councillor Robert Rams (East Barnet Ward ) elected in 2006 and a key member of the Administration of "the Boys" . Rumours are not standing in 2014 as has had quite enough of the mindless abuse over Friern Barnet Library, where the Conservative Group were happy to pile all the crap on him  . Is fairly recently married and his  wife does not enjoy the nitty gritty , not to mention time commitment of local politics ( not unusual in the Tory Group where the wives either cannot stand the Council  or get themselves elected to it). Works as Head of Office for the Conservative GLA Group where his career seems to have stalled (it is a very comfortable job with all the local Government perks) and used to be Chief of Staff to Nigel Evans MP . Was step brother to the late Amy Winehouse but has none of her unfortunate habits, nor for that matter her artistic talent. An operator behind the scenes ( locally and wider afield) was a key supporter of Lynne Hillan and enemy of Salinger . Possesses  that key characteristic of Barnet Conservative Councillors ,  very little loyalty.

Councillor Darrel Yawitch (Edgware Ward) Elected to the Council in a by election in 2009. Soon became apparent he had one key issue which was to secure VA status and new buildings for Beit Shvidler School in Edgware and that achieved rather lost interest . Not standing in 2014 and I am not sure anyone will notice . Firmly part of the orthodox block .

Councillor Joan Scannell (Edgware Ward ) Wily Old Bird first elected in 1994 and before that was a Council Officer serving as PA to the Director of Social Services amongst other things. Long time Secretary of the Conservative Group and knows where some of the bodies are buried. Stickler for the rules. Distrusted by Cornelius and actively disliked by "the boys" who see her as part of the Old Guard that has consistently hated the Cabinet system . Was an excellent Mayor . Is a survivor and I suspect will still be there long after "the boys " have all grown up and moved on  .

Councillor Bridget Perry (High Barnet Ward) failed in her initial attempt to get elected at the 2005 High Barnet by election but successfully fought off a Liberal challenge in 2006 . Enjoying being Deputy Mayor having been shafted last year by Kate Salinger. Hard working Ward member genuinely popular in High Barnet with a history of voluntary work with the girl guides. Brighter than she looks and underestimate her at your peril. A rarity in Barnet Conservative Politics in not being interested in high office and having a sense of loyalty, consequently looked down on and patronised by "the boys" .

Councillor Melvin Cohen (Golders Green Ward) Serving as Mayor for the second time and finds it very difficult to hide his love of the job.  Sadly second time around is never as enjoyable as the first. Father of the Conservative Group ( and indeed Father of Councillor Dean Cohen ) having first been elected in 1982. Very rarely expresses an opinion ( I could not tell you if he is on the left or the right of the Conservative Party ) but that is probably how he has survived so long . An acknowledged expert on Planning. Roused to anger when he was challenged in 2011 by Kate Salinger for the Vice Chairmanship of the Conservative Group when he made the speech of life to see her off. Does not always vote with the Orthodox "block vote" . Has now been with his (male) partner for 25 years but decided Wendy Prentice would make a better Mayoress Melvin no one would have raised an eyebrow ....................

Councillor Hugh Rayner (Hale Ward ) former RAF Squadron Leader elected in 2006 . Solid , dependable, reliable but somewhat naïve, he is considered a safe pair of hands  . A good Deputy Mayor ( to me ) but would not put his name in to be Mayor in 2011 as he wanted it in Olympic year , when he did so in 2012 he was surprisingly beaten by newcomer Brian Schama supposedly because Rayner as Chairman of Hendon Association had upset many of the Hendon Constituency Councillors . Was very hurt by that experience . Had a difficult relationship with Matthew Offord MP but rumours that Rayner was busy ringing round North London Conservatives seeking advise on how to deselect his MP seem to have come to nothing . A bit of a fence sitter will become Mayor in due course unless Hale Ward reverts to its former marginal status.

Councillor Tom Davey (HaleWard) elected on my coat tails in a by election on London Election Day in 2008 , he is the ultimate member of the Administration of the " Boys" . Educated at QE Boys he is clever , ambitious and his saving grace, wonderfully right wing and does not suffer fools gladly . Not for him any namby pamby "consensus" and I cannot see him agreeing to the Socialist concept of a "London living wage". Will go far unless he becomes bored or decides his business career comes first. Like all the boys does not quite manage to hide his disdain for the old timers. One of the few Councillors who can make a decent speech and enjoys winding up the whingers and moaners .

Councillor Stephen Sowerby (Oakleigh Ward) Elected in 2010 Oakleigh Ward was his reward for failing to get elected in High Barnet Ward in 2006 where despite working his socks off , a pesky Liberal Democrat hung on . Sadly has been a complete non event on the Council and serves as a "Committee place filler" . Did distinguish himself on Area Planning this year where he very effectively demolished  Cllr Longstaff's opposition  to the Barnet Eruv . Engaged to a very nice girl he met on the Internet . Cornelius considers him not the sharpest knife in the box and Stephen can look forward to a long career on the backbenches filling Committee places and pursuing his interest in military history.

Councillor Lisa Rutter ( Brunswick Park Ward) elected in 2006 when she was a loyal supporter of the coup against Salinger . Probably the most regal of recent Mayors , she always looks a million dollars despite being no spring chicken and wore more "bling " than I have ever been seen with. Was excellent during the 2011 August riots touring the Borough and dispensing reassurance but sadly it was all down hill from there with her Mayoralty eventually becoming a parody of itself. Sadly finds it hard to accept that that year was the pinnacle of her Council career and she is now on the scrap heap of ex Mayors . Her very pleasant husband Mark was her Escort and I believe there is no truth in the rumour that even he had to call her " Madam Mayor" . However the rumour that he wishes to add to the already incestuous nature of the Barnet Conservative Group be being elected a Councillor in 2014 seems to have more validity. Cornelius considers her a joke and has not forgotten the stroke he nearly had when he discovered the Civic visit to Barnet of "fun loving" Mr Michael Barrymore.

Councillor Sury Khatri (Mill Hill Ward) Elected in 2010 when 16 years of Liberal dominance in Mill Hill ended. Heavy smoker who dislikes virtually every aspect of Conservative Group policy . Made a speech once in the Conservative Group in which he attacked privatisation , parking policy , One Barnet , Library closures , cuts etc and which colleagues thought was a resignation  speech but still he hangs on . Quite happy to tell anyone who asks that "One Barnet" is crazy (as he did at the Audit Committee a couple of months ago ) . Many Tory Councillors think he is barking and wonder if he will sign up to the 2014 Manifesto . Will cause problems if the Tory Administration is reelected next year with a slim majority. The Tory Councillor most likely to defect to Labour .

Councillor Andrew Harper (Garden Suburb Ward) Rather innocuous gentleman Councillor who having won a 2005 by election got the taste for the rough and tumble of Barnet Politics . A competent administrator rather than a Politician , Council Officers liked him, always a bad sign  . Having become Deputy Leader to Lynne Hillan he thought he was a natural shoe in when she retired ill but the Conservative Group thought otherwise particularly after a disastrous speech at the 2011 Annual Council Meeting when even neutral observers thought he sounded desperate for the job and could not wait for her to retire.
Came an embarrassing third in the subsequent Leadership election and promptly resigned as Deputy Leader and realised Politics was not the game for him . Retiring in 2014 to spend more time with his music .

Councillor John Hart ( Mill Hill Ward) re elected to the Council in 2006 after being ousted by the Liberals in 1994. Is now at 82 enjoying an unexpected Indian Summer of a Political career. A genuine character , popular in Mill Hill ( although surprisingly let down his residents over Saracens ) with a personal vote and reminiscent of Councillors as they used to be . Does not do Political correctness and had one serious run in with the Standards regime . Only Councillor to use the word "Fuck" in the Council Chamber and frankly does not give one either. Out of sympathy with the current Administration ( privately thinks One Barnet is "total crap" ) .Cornelius physically winces every time John gets up to speak and most of "the Boys" wish he would go away as they find him embarrassing . Would make an ideal Chairman for the Allotments Committee , a position that would make him very happy indeed . Will no doubt still be a Councillor when they carry him out in a box for his Green burial .

Councillor Helena Hart (Edgware Ward) Huge admirer (some would say clone) of the beloved Margaret Thatcher she has become the acknowledged expert on Health . Loyal to Mike Freer he brought her into the Cabinet in 2006 as a reward for her support against Salinger in the coup and because the Group was short of competent women . Would have made a good MP but her heyday in the mid nineties was the time of the Conservative Party's lowest fortune. Hates rows and usually tries to keep a low profile ( less generous colleagues suggest she has a lot of splinters in her nether regions from sitting on too many fences ) Loyal to Lynne Hillan to the end she would make an excellent Mayor but has turned the job down several times

Councillor Anthony Finn (Hendon Ward) No Jewish wedding , Bar mitzvah or other event in the Orthodox Community is complete without the attendance of the jovial figure of Anthony Finn as his waistline will testify . First elected in 1990 , Tony is a survivor despite an early run in with former Leader Roy Schultz who accused him , Eva Greenspan and another former Councillor of only being interested in Orthodox issues . Has always been the "shop steward" of the Orthodox block . In Group elections will openly tell anyone and everyone who canvasses him that he will vote for them . Deputy Leader for a long period under Victor Lyon he managed to fight off a couple of challenges from Salinger who implied that he was lazy but finally fell to Salinger's sworn enemy former Councillor Kanti Patel . Not a supporter of Lynne Hillan but was very annoyed when Mike Freer dumped him from the Cabinet having had enough of his laid back attitude (which hides a calculating mind) . Despite being reticent about doing it turned into an excellent hard working Mayor . Has lasted as Chief Whip for 2 years which is longer than most of his predecessors. Cornelius is wary of him but needs his support as he has few Jewish friends in the Group.

Councillor Maureen Braun (Hendon Ward ) Elected in 1998 having previously served 4 years on Camden Council where famously she had a bag of soot thrown over her during a Poll Tax setting debate, now that was proper Politics ! . Loyal to Lynne Hillan and implacable supporter during the Salinger coup had a long term rivalry with Eva Greenspan over the Mayoralty and positions on planning . Has become the target of accusations from the "boys " that she rests her eyes at meetings.

Councillor Dean Cohen (Golders Green Ward) Son of Councillor Melvin Cohen and brother of prominent Jewish journalist Justin , Dean married a couple years ago and already has two children or it may be three by the time you finish reading  this . No truth in the rumour he is planning to out do Councillor Brian Gordon who has nine children and an increasing number of grandchildren . Loved in Golders Green as the natural successor to the saintly late Councillor Aba Dunner and therefore ends up with the vast majority of the Ward work to the relief of his Father. Sadly not above a bit of back stabbing and pretending that things that have gone wrong were nothing to do with him ( hiring of parks , remember Dean ?) and does not give the impression of being on top of the huge Environment Portfolio. In his early days on the Council was once shouted at by Nick Walkely (unlike him to be unprofessional ) leaving Dean with  a fear of Officers. Likely to be around for years until his son is old enough to join him on the Council . About to preside over the forthcoming bins fiasco that will make parking look like a side show .These days always looks exhausted ,I suspect it is not the children or the business but the bloody parking !

Councillor Reuben Thompstone (Golders Green Ward) Nice Guy New Zealand born , teacher. Having replaced Andrew Harper at Education clearly finding his feet and another boy promoted slightly too early but apparently Cornelius was under pressure from some colleagues  not to appoint his wife to replace Harper.  Been around politically in Finchley a few years and not considered a high flyer but solid and reliable . Recently married a nice girl from Nigeria he met on the Internet. Local Politics means you simply don't have time to meet people in other ways.

Councillor Mark Shooter (Hendon Ward) Arrived with a bang in 2010 and within three months was challenging Lynne Hillan for the Group Leadership . Wealthy , Good looking , charming and intelligent his ill advised Leadership challenge left him a marked man and although in 2011 ran a far better Leadership campaign following Hillan's retirement was never going to get the support of Chipping Barnet Councillors . Cornelius is deeply suspicious of him and will not give him any significant office , Mrs Cornelius, not known for her closeness to the Jewish Community is even more suspicious and appears apparently not to have forgotten  a row over the Kosher catering at a David Cameron dinner , "They are eating OUR rolls " she was heard to exclaim. Although easily bored and unable to suffer fools he appears to be biding his time . Is the obvious Conservative Group Leader if Cornelius loses the election in 2014 if he is prepared to put in the commitment. Voted against "One Barnet" in the Conservative Group. Will stay a Councillor to maintain his profile in the Orthodox Community

Councillor Brian Schama (Mill Hill Ward) Elected in 2010 but you would have thought by the way he behaved in the weeks after the election he had been on the Council for 20 years . Had an opinion on everything . Wrote a simply dreadful letter to the already ill  Lynne Hillan at the height of the August 2010 leadership contest which he then e mailed to all Tory Councillors . Stood against Wendy Prentice for the Group Chairmanship as part of that coup attempt and lost by one vote.Die hard Hillan loyalists have never forgiven him . His attempt at the Mayoralty after 2 years on the Council was not taken seriously until he beat Councillor Rayner who was the establishment candidate. Was not a bad Mayor in the Community but hopeless in the Chair , quite killed the budget debate. Fell out big time with Matthew Offord MP with whom he is barely on speaking terms. At 73 his Mayoralty is the highlight of his Council career and anyway Cornelius does not trust him or particularly like him , the rumours were that having been a glorious Mayor he would challenge Cornelius for Leader , however this backfired as he won no friends in the Tory Group by his behaviour in the Chair at Council meetings .

Councillor Sach Rajput (Oakleigh Ward) hugely ambitious , criminal barrister whose speeches in the Council Chamber often lead you to believe he is addressing the Judge and Jury . Intelligent and competent he has stood for Parliament (in Brent Central ) and is clearly using Barnet Council as a stepping stone to a safe seat or a High Court Judgeship  In his younger and slimmer days was known as a "Ladies man" but is now happily married with twins . An active Freemason, always seems to end up on the winning side and has risen without trace , to coin a phrase . Firmly part of "the boys" Administration . Will not let the matter of loyalty get in the way of a stellar career.

Councillor Andreas Tambourides (Brunswick Park Ward) Long serving and hard working . Has educated the Conservative Group and indeed Party on the issue of the rape of his beloved Cyprus by Turkey and highly regarded in the Cypriot Community especially by women of a certain age who remember his fabulous bass tones from his days on London Greek Radio . Did not fall into the trap of some ethnic minority Councillors of becoming too identified with just one Community. Devoted to his friend Lynne Hillan whose illness and death hit him very hard . Was an excellent Mayor but unfortunate that it coincided with Salinger's brief reign as Leader . No love lost between those two and Salinger and him have not spoken in years , for that matter neither have Salinger and I . Sadly his glory days seem behind him and is widely blamed for the fiasco that was the Brunswick Park by election last year and the unfortunate choice of Conservative candidate but the Conservative Group enjoy picking scapegoats. Strong supporter of Cornelius whom he sees as Lynne's anointed successor and a bastion against any return by Salinger , not a view I share .

Councillor Joanna Tambourides (East Barnet Ward) Very organised hard working wife of the above . Selected in 2007 when the Conservative Party were desperate for a candidate following the death of the much loved Olwen Evans ( whose memorable speech delived the coup de grace to Salinger during the 2006 coup) . However her promotion to the Cabinet by Lynne Hillan as a favour to her friend Andreas and because of the shortage of competent women was a step too far. Has struggled to grasp the portfolio as Planning Committee Chairmen  will tell you , cannot think on her feet , struggles in Council with Robert Rams often whispering answers to supplementary questions to her . Genuinely nice woman who was an excellent Mayoress but clearly not enjoying her current role . However Cornelius desperately needs the Tambo's loyalty and votes .

Councillor Brian Gordon (Hale Ward) Elected in 1998 in Hale Ward as the only Conservative with two Labour , a result repeated in 2002. Big personal vote and highly regarded in the Jewish Community . Outspoken right winger with principles who says what he thinks and although not everybody's cup of tea is straightforward if sometimes a little naïve and what you see is what you get . Distrusted by a succession of Conservative Leaders, not least for his traditional orthodox Jewish views  is not prepared to compromise his principles for Office . Loyal  and not interested in taking part in conspiracies . An integral part of the Orthodox block. Rumour is he is switching wards to Edgware in 2014 ( which is where he lives) , Contrary to what some think has no prejudices and treats people as he finds them .

Councillor Alison Cornelius (Totteridge Ward ) elected in a by election in 2009 when the Ward was desperate and could not find another candidate . Has taken the post of "Leader's wife" to a whole new level .well beyond the traditional one of organising the sausage rolls although she can be relied on to do the catering .Collects Committee appointments and jobs like other people collect Tesco Clubcard points . Has turned the Health Scrutiny Committee into a car parking sub Committee and became the object of ridicule when officials at  Barnet General  discovered her counting cars and examining car parking passes accompanied by an embarrassed Councillor Graham Old . Not known for her empathy with the Jewish Community she sensibly kept quiet during the debate on the Totteridge Eruv and usually is away or busy when invitations arrive from Synagogues. Her opposition to the initial planning application for the Etz Chaim School in Mill Hill lead to her swift substitution for subsequent meetings discussing that application. Not possible to have a short conversation with her it is just easier to say yes and save the phone bill cost .  Her husband long ago opted for the easier option of agreeing with his wife . Has turned the Conservative Party in Totteridge almost into a family business.

Councillor Richard Cornelius (Totteridge Ward) Elected in 2006 took to the Council like a duck to water. Ended up as Leader after Lynne Hillan's retirement in 2011 as the Chipping Barnet candidate and having amassed the least number of enemies. If he loses the election in  2014 he will be immediately dumped and may well in any case face the "Salinger" treatment once the election is out of the way . Instincts are right wing and anti Officer but as Leader has increasingly fallen under Officer influence . Some of his senior Officer appointments are considered bizarre and just preparing the way for a change in Council control next year .Originally highly sceptical of the whole One Barnet concept he lost his temper in an explosion that could be heard from his French holiday home when he found out about the "Joint venture" proposal in August 2012 and yet within weeks was persuaded. Is increasingly seen as a delay and dither man and entirely ineffective  and his U turns are becoming a weekly occurrence . Has no public recognition factor in the Borough and he ( and more so his wife ) is jealous of those local  Politicians who have .Has failed to build rapport with the Finchley and Golders Green and Hendon  Conservative Associations and thinks he can survive with the votes of Chipping Barnet Councillors . Will no doubt go down in Borough history for signing the One Barnet contracts ( on whose advise did he have his photo taken signing them ?) and will no doubt not be around when a future Conservative or Labour Administration has to unpick the mess as in so many other Local Authorities . He is however no fool and provides the charm and likability in the Cornelius partnership.