Labour councillor takes £10k for attending two council meetings

Bob · Apr 19, 2009

This takes the piss.

A Lambeth Labour councillor is:

Living in Bristol
Has claimed over £10,000 in allowances for attending two meetings (and a committee) - he appears to say that this is to cover his phone bill and travel!

Full story from the Bristol newspaper below:

A councillor standing for parliament at the next election has been blasted for claiming £10,212 in allowances despite turning up to just two meetings.

Sam Townend is Labour's replacement for Bristol North West's retiring Doug Naysmith and currently serves on Lambeth council in London.

But dividing his time between the two cities has taken his toll.

Opposition councillors have rounded on the prospective parliamentary candidate for claiming his full allowance entitlement while regularly failing to turn up to sessions over the last year.
He has insisted he fulfils his duties to the people who elected him in London and has had no complaints from residents.

But Councillor Ashley Lumsden, the Lambeth Liberal Democrat group leader, said: "Councillor Townend was very happy to put on his leaflets and websites that he lives in Bristol.
"It's a long way from London, how can he be representing residents here?
"When I checked he was claiming the full allowance entitlement but he only attended two meetings.
"I met him a few times after he was first elected and he seemed perfectly nice but we have hardly seen him for a while.
"People are very concerned about this. There are a number of pressing issues in the ward he represents, particularly when it comes to housing. Rents have gone up by 17 per cent and residents need representation."
Mr Townend, 34 , a practising barrister specialising in building and engineering law, lives in Henleaze.
He stood as a candidate for Reigate in 2005 and faces a tough battle against Conservative candidate Charlotte Leslie to win the Bristol seat when the General Election is called in the next 12 months.

Mr Townend said: "I perform the functions I have been elected to do in Lambeth. I have done more than attend two meetings. I have met with fellow ward councillors and I attended an environmental committee.

"I have various formal and informal meetings and I have a casework load that I deal with.

"It is true to say that my priorities are in Bristol.

"I am a backbench councillor in Lambeth. I get the basic allowance, which covers the cost of having a telephone and travelling to other meetings in the ward.

"It is a part-time job and I do it to the best of my ability."

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/government/Councillor-spotlight-allowances/article-909835-detail/article.html?cacheBust=6bAQd8yU6zSU&authid=vDNg8e08faFzZXaAs5SK2pDiE3ZhxRTGNj5TQvn3Hc0dMkEnk1240012270254&success=true#community

Donna Ferentes · Apr 19, 2009

Hi Bob

You're aware that a Liberal Democrat Councillor was permanently living in Bristol (and didn't tell anybody this) at the time he was elected to Berkhamstead town council?

Donna Ferentes · Apr 19, 2009

You see Bob, it's the humbug that annoys me. It's the way you always post these stories about Labour people as if:

(a) you weren't a member of a rival party, which curiously you always forget to mention

(b) your party didn't do precisely the same things.

JTG · Apr 19, 2009

That's nothing, LibDem councillor Shirley Brown (nee Marshall), who represents Ashley on Bristol City Council, spends most of her time in the United States and picks up £11,000 a year from us for doing so. She occasionally flies in to call asian councillors 'coconuts' though.

Edit: Ah, Donna was thinking along the same lines

Donna Ferentes · Apr 19, 2009

That can't be right, Lib Dems don't do any of that stuff.

Bob · Apr 19, 2009

Donna Ferentes said:
You see Bob, it's the humbug that annoys me. It's the way you always post these stories about Labour people as if:

(a) you weren't a member of a rival party, which curiously you always forget to mention

(b) your party didn't do precisely the same things.

a) I've lost track of the number of times I've explained I'm a Lib Dem...

b) This isn't a party policy thing - it is a specific anger at Sam Townsend. When I lived in Kennington he and his Labour colleagues made a very big issue of how they lived locally.

Actually I'm pretty pissed off too at the fact that Labour encouraged a homophobic campaign against Charles Anglin in Princes in 2006.

Donna Ferentes · Apr 19, 2009

Bob said:
This isn't a party policy thing

I don't believe you and thousands of others wouldn't either.

Donna Ferentes · Apr 19, 2009

I'm reminded of Charles The Mad, who famously thought that he was made of glass.

Even he, though, was less transparent than Bob.

Sunspots · Apr 19, 2009

JTG said:
That's nothing, LibDem councillor Shirley Brown (nee Marshall), who represents Ashley on Bristol City Council, spends most of her time in the United States and picks up £11,000 a year from us for doing so. She occasionally flies in to call asian councillors 'coconuts' though.

^You beat me to it!^

Donna Ferentes · Apr 19, 2009

Berkhamstead (scroll down a bit)

[Note: as, unlike Bob, I can declare an interest when I have one, I should say that some of the people involved are known to me personally]

newme · Apr 19, 2009

Cant they both be in the wrong? lol

Mr Smin · Apr 19, 2009

Bob said:
a) I've lost track of the number of times I've explained I'm a Lib Dem...

The you need to put it in your tagline or as an automatic signature.

WarmharbourLane · Apr 19, 2009

None of the above should be happening :mad:

But as I've just moved to Lambeth, I'm more worried about someone taking the p!ss on my doorstep with my council tax money than people doing it in some place I've never heard of before (where is Berkhamstead ?!? :confused:

).

There does seem to be something about Labour politicians and money though. You'd think a Barrister wouldn't need the cash ! :eek:

Mind · Apr 19, 2009

Donna Ferentes said:
You see Bob, it's the humbug that annoys me. It's the way you always post these stories about Labour people as if:

(a) you weren't a member of a rival party, which curiously you always forget to mention

(b) your party didn't do precisely the same things.

I am so glad other people are finally complaining about this!

I'm fed up with useless politicians as much as the next person, but what is annoying is when someone from the Lib Dems, tries to slip in pro-lib-dem propaganda and pretending that he's just having a normal conversation. :rolleyes:

I had mentioned it just a couple of weeks ago here
http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=8926844&postcount=22

It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't that at least half of his posts are politically motivated point scoring.

Oh and that Lib Dem Bristol councillor, I mean seriously WTF??
There's a video of it here.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news...conut-slur/article-732900-detail/article.html

I could never call another black person that word. It's just such a throwback to a time when anybody who dared to be individual and not toe the "official black line" was meant to be a race-traitor. Shocking that in 2009, some people are still using such disgusting phrases.

weltweit · Apr 19, 2009

Grunt Grunt, snouts in the trough !!

ericjarvis · Apr 19, 2009

Bob said:
Actually I'm pretty pissed off too at the fact that Labour encouraged a homophobic campaign against Charles Anglin in Princes in 2006.

That's the MOST hypocritical statement I've read in years. Without even bringing in the ancient history of Simon Hughes over the border. There was no homophobic campaign against Charles Anglin as far as I could see, and when I stood some years back there was unquestionably a Lib Dem campaign based on stirring up racism. We'd canvas an estate, then come back a few days later and there would be Lib Dem stickers in many of the windows and people telling us they wouldn't vote Labour because "they give all the money to the blacks". I'd be relying on hearsay to repeat the sort of thing we were told Lib Dem candidates were saying on the doorstep, but frankly I was disgusted by much of it.

Now I'm not supporting Sam Townend here. In my view he should have resigned from the council as soon as he was selected as a parliamentary candidate. However given the history of the Lib Dems in Princes Ward you've got a bloody cheek to complain about the behaviour of any other party. It's a history of lies, misrepresentation, racism, and corruption. It's a history of infiltrating tenants groups to use them as political tools rather than to represent tenants. It's a history of lying about casework and claiming credit for anything that might remotely be popular regardless of who actually did it. Under Simon Acland the standard casework procedure generally seemed to be get given a problem, claim to have made enquiries and blame the Labour Party for the problem rather than make any attempt to sort it out, and when anyone else fixed the problem send out a leaflet claiming credit for fixing it. It's a history that would shame all but the most obsessively dishonest apparatchiks at Labour HQ.

bemused · Apr 19, 2009

Local councillors living outside the area is just wrong and just demonstrates the rise of the full time political class. I can walk to my councillors house, she lives in the ward - they all should.

John the Fish · Apr 19, 2009

Snouts up!

You'll feel better after a day on the river and a couple of pints!

Here we go! More tales of sex, lies and corruption - a really nice dirty old style Lambeth political campaign about to kick off!

Makes one wonder why anyone bothers to cross the road to vote.

About time for some decent residents to stand as independent candidates.

Bob · Apr 19, 2009

ericjarvis said:
There was no homophobic campaign against Charles Anglin as far as I could see,

Well:

Somebody searched gay dating websites and sent Charles' photos on them to the SLP and The Voice

The SLP did a big splash based around Charles being scantily clad on a gay dating website.

Labour made an issue of this (see here) http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-1374.html
http://www.lambethlabour.com/discus/messages/81/785.html?1146348456

Labour issued a press release criticising him for being scantily clad on a gay dating site.

Then anonymous leaflets appeared accusing him of being a paedophile.

I have copies somewhere of this leaflet. Who do you think did it??

What I do know is at the same time across London a Labour campaign accused a LIb Dem of being a paedophile - ultimately driving him out of his home.

A Labour councillor was yesterday found guilty of falsely accusing her political rival in an election campaign of being a paedophile and having sex with teenage boys.

Miranda Grell, 29, had been considered a rising star in Labour ranks and had been photographed with high-profile figures such as Cherie Blair, Jesse Jackson and John Reid. She beat her opponent Barry Smith to the previously safe Liberal Democrat seat in the 2006 local election. Mr Smith, 56, a prominent member of the council cabinet who has a long-term, 39-year-old Malaysian partner, lost his seat by 28 votes.

Mr Smith, who now lives in Northern England, broke down in tears, saying that he had to flee his home after the slurs.

He said that he was spat at, verbally abused, and followed home by two men who said: “Now we now where you live, kiddie-f***er.”

Giving evidence, Mr Smith added: “I was in a state of shock. It is bad enough that homophobia was being used against me, but when I heard there was a possible suspicion of paedophilia or implied paedophilia – some things just can’t be described.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2507836.ece

joevsimp · Apr 19, 2009

Bob said:
What I do know is at the same time across London a Labour campaign accused a LIb Dem of being a paedophile - ultimately driving him out of his home.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2507836.ece

was she sacked for that?

Mind · Apr 19, 2009

She was.
She had to resign from her council seat after the court found her guilty, Although on her website she doesn't mention this. On reading it, you'd think she was still a councillor. My guess is that she's either in denial or somewhat delusional.

Simon Hughes on the other hand went on to become the Party Chairman of the Liberal Democrats.

I suspect the only reason why he didn't win the leadership election back then was because he was exposed as being an utter, utter hypocrite dog-whistling that he was "the straight choice" when he'd had homosexual relationships himself.

Awful Stuff.

Mrs Magpie · Apr 19, 2009

Bob said:
The SLP did a big splash based around Charles being scantily clad on a gay dating website.

I clearly remember this, but I also clearly remember the smears against Peter Tatchell when he stood against Simon Hughes in the early 80s..

Bob · Apr 20, 2009

joevsimp said:
was she sacked for that?

No - she wasn't sacked.

But a court found her guilty of some breach of electoral law so she lost her seat. She then resigned from Labour.

If anyone doubts there was a homophobic campaign in Princes in 2006 then have a look at this. The only question is who did it.

Donna Ferentes · Apr 20, 2009

Which reminds me:

During the campaign, some male Liberal workers wore badges reading "I've been kissed by Peter Tatchell" and anonymous leaflets were circulating which asked "which Queen do you support?".

se5 · Apr 20, 2009

Bob said:
If anyone doubts there was a homophobic campaign in Princes in 2006 then have a look at this. The only question is who did it.

I remember this from the 2006 campaign and agree it was unfortunate how the SLP and Voice jumped on it but to my mind the whole story just underlines Mr Anglin's unsuitability for public office - for him to think that it would not come out just shows his incompetence or naivety; traits that are found in all parties but seem to be particularly present in the LDs (see Mark Oaten etc) It raises questions about the Lib Dem whips and party control on the council who should have seen this coming.

(For the record I am a Labour supporter but used to work with Charles Anglin so know him a bit: if I had been in Princes I would have probably voted for him)

fogbat · Apr 20, 2009

Bob said:
Actually I'm pretty pissed off too at the fact that Labour encouraged a homophobic campaign against Charles Anglin in Princes in 2006.

Have you considered just drawing a nice big target on your forehead, to save time?

charcol · Apr 20, 2009

According to this Bristol news website, Cllr Townend has announced that he's standing down.

Original Bristol - Would-be Bristol MP resigns in allowances row

Should be an interesting by-election, although it's unlikely to be a particularly edifying campaign. Possibly a contender for the next edition of this book?

greenfox · Apr 20, 2009

So hes finally done it - I've been hearing rumours from a friend in the area that he was likely to resign about this time - I think its so that they can hold the byelection on the same day as the European elections (4 June I think).

I bet the voters of Princes ward are looking forward to weeks of Labour and Lib Dem councillors calling on them and numerous leaflets trying to link Concillor Townsend to wider sleaze allegations and claiming to be the 'only alternative' (LDs) or trumpeting 0% council tax increase and three years of delivery on the council (Lab).

I think the Labour candidate is likely to be Mark Harrison. He seems to feature prominently on the local Labour website - http://se11actionteam.blogspot.com/ and has obviously been working the ward for a while.

I may be inclined to help out (I am a Labour member but not a very active one - delivering leaflets at election time type thing max) - that contest is going to be a lot more interesting than the European elections that are being held London-wide

greenfox · Apr 20, 2009

Maybe the Lib Dems will wheel out Charles Anglin for a rematch? (assuming he still lives in the borough)

lang rabbie · Apr 20, 2009

greenfox said:
I think the Labour candidate is likely to be Mark Harrison. He seems to feature prominently on the local Labour website - http://se11actionteam.blogspot.com/

I think you might be right

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Labour councillor takes £10k for attending two council meetings

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