My mayoral’s expenses - nothing to report
Former councillor Simon Cocksedge has asked me where is my list of expenses I promised in an earlier blog.
The answer is that I only have part of what I promised, ie only the 2008/9 expenses. I am happy to provide that.
I was paid my current salary as full-time directly-elected mayor of £49,372.66 plus an additional £5122.54 for being on the Implementation Executive which was the body charged with managing the move from two tier authority to unitary. All members of the Implementation Executive received the same amount.
I drew no expenses during 2008/9.
As soon as possible I will publish the full figure for the period since I became directly-elected Mayor of Bedford.
June 5th, 2009 at 10:33 am
It seems that once again Bedford goes its own way, by apparently being the only council in the Eastern Region so far, to elect any Labour councillors at all.
Results for Castle Ward seem painfully slow in coming: why is this?
June 5th, 2009 at 11:45 am
I shall be blogging on the election results shortly but Castle was by no means the last ward to declare. That honour goes to Cauldwell Ward.
June 5th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
The Borough is now listed by the BBC et al as “under no overall control”.
I thought, under the executive mayor scheme, it was pretty firmly under your control regardless?
Castle Ward would have to declare UPI otherwise, as lots of Lib Dem Councillors elsewhere, but they came last here, behind even Labour, which has become the new low water-mark of British politics.
Apparently, the Scots Nats are planning to table a motion next Wednesday calling for an immediate general election. When the Labour MPs vote this down, as they will, they declare their confidence in Gordon Brown’s government, which will make them steaming hypocrites if they go on trying to ditch him as leader.
Patrick Hall to be Labour Leader after the next general election, assuming, of course, that Kate Hoey and Frank Field both vote for him? Either that, or there will be a hasty rule change to allow a non-MP to be leader!
June 5th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
The BBC doesn’t understand the mayoral system. I was called for a comment today by a reporter from Three Counties Radio who asked what I would do if two groups ganged up on me. She had some difficulty understanding that provided I was working within budget and policy framework it would make no difference.