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Ex-councillor slams bid to block mayor

10:30am Tuesday 23rd February 2010 in


A FORMER mayor has given his view on the bitter row about who should become Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane in May.

Criss Connor, who was town mayor in 1975-76, says he will not back any “dummy mayor” put in place for political reasons.

Instead, he is backing his former political adversary Phil Heath to take up the chain of office.

Mr Connor said: “The mayor in this town has always been outside the political arena. The mayor is the representative of the Queen in this town.

“This is bringing politics into the Royal Family – totally unacceptable.”

Mr Connor spoke out after Councillor Heath was shockingly voted down from automatic elevation to mayor, having served as deputy mayor since May last year. Cllr Heath became the first deputy in living memory to fail to be made mayor.

The move, on February 11, broke with long-established convention of appointing solely on the basis of who has the longest period of continuous service. It is also alleged to have broken with the borough’s constitution.

Mr Connor, a former Labour councillor, said councillors who appeared to be acting for their own benefit risked alienating the public.

He said he had supported every mayor since his year in office regardless of what party they came from, but added: “I will not be supporting a dummy mayor who is there for political reasons.”

Conservative group leader Mark Ruffell led opposition to Cllr Heath becoming mayor saying he could not overlook four complaints made to the standards committee about him.

But Mr Connor warned that the vote against Cllr Heath had put pressure on the independent standards committee to uphold the complaints, which are still being investigated.

He said Cllr Heath, an ex-Conservative group leader who was expelled from the Conservative party and now represents Basingstoke First Community Party, would make a good mayor, adding: “He would have been outspoken, but what’s wrong with that?”

Comments(13)

stevemac1970 says...
12:56pm Wed 24 Feb 10

Congratulations Mr Connor, you have summed up what the whole town is thinking.

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Town Guard says...
7:49am Thu 25 Feb 10

“He would have been outspoken, but what’s wrong with that?”

What wrong with it is that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor by convention agree to keep a very low political profile.

As Mr Connor said: “The mayor in this town has always been outside the political arena"

You can't have it both ways.

Councillor Heath has failed to be non-political as Deputy Mayor and has said he will not change if he is made Mayor.

Yet Councillor Heath bases his claim to be Mayor on the seniority convention.

The Basingstoke First Comunity Party is not registered with the Electoral Commission and so doesn't legally exist as a political party. That is why when it has contested elections it has not been able to put its name on the ballot paper.

http://registers.ele
ctoralcommission.org
.uk/regulatory-issue
s/regpoliticalpartie
s.cfm

Real parties have to publish accounts etc.

Given that the process of registering a party is very simple why hasn't it been done ? Councillor Heath said the Electoral Commission had lost the registration papers. The Electoral Commission said it never recieved any papers. What misfortune dogs the Basinsgtoke First Community Party - it's almost unbelievable, and utterly implausable.

That was back in spring 2009, and still Councillor Heath hasn't sorted the problem out.

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stevemac1970 says...
1:31pm Thu 25 Feb 10

Town Guard- Congratulations for being so out of touch with the real world. Like everyone else, Cllr Heath has accounts to do when the most money is spent by anyone. They are a legal requirement and party or no party, anyone can view them. Point 2, they are a recognised group within the Borough with a group leader and group room and whilst he continues to fight for what is right for the people of Hatch Warren, he still is political when he is acting as Cllr Heath and NOT deputy Mayor because that is his job. Then again, you could leave it all to Dan Putty, the only Hatch Warren Cllr against Cllr Heath as Mayor. Tell me, wasn't it Cllr Putty who was kicked off the local Schools board because he never went to the meetings? Yeah, leave it to Dan the man, and let the people go without.... or shall we now be a bit more grown up about it. When you act as Mayor you are a-political, but when doing your duty as the elected member you do whats right for those people provided he does not introduce himself as Deputy Mayor or Mayor. Is that simple enough for you to understand now Town Guard?

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Hiliter says...
4:17pm Thu 25 Feb 10

Hiliter. Ex Mayor Criss Connor is right in saying he wont be supporting a "dummy" Mayor as he describes Cllr Chapman's opportunist bid to replace Cllr Heath.As I have said previously a campaign not to recognise Cllr Chapman as Mayor in the community could get support.It would be possible to invite the Deputy Mayor to events instead - who knows this might still turn out to be Cllr Heath as he remains the longest serving Councillor.Thats how farcical the situation has become and day by day it brings the Council and its residents into disrepute.Cllr Dan Putty should be ashamed of himself.Over recent years he has benefited from the help and support given to him by Cllr Heath as a fellow Ward Councillor.What does he do when Cllr Heath needs his support - he votes against him on the basis that Cllr Heath is not worthy enough to be Mayor.What a good friend he turned out to be.

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Politicsfree says...
5:47pm Thu 25 Feb 10

I wish I had known about the "standards committee" when a few of us had complaints regarding our local Tory Councillors.

I may not be a fan of Mr Heath but I think these shinanigans will only reap more support for him. I now think he should be made Mayor just because the others don't want it.........shake up the monopoly a bit!

Get some debate in there - lets face it when theres a decision to be made - they are all sheep! (allegedly)

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Town Guard says...
6:53pm Thu 25 Feb 10

Stevemac - you make my case for me.

You can't be Mayor at 8am and not Mayor at 8.05am

Every other Deputy-Mayor has managed to keep to the convention of having a low political profile.
Councillor Heath has launched repeated high-profile attacks on other parties, Councillors and council staff.

Councillor Heath now says he has reported Councillor Ruffell to the Standards Board for the "really serious" offence getting Councillors Heath punishment from the Standards Board wrong.

Does he want Councillor Ruffell disqualified from Office ?

The fact is the Basingstoke First Community Party is not a registered political party.

I can't speak for Councillor Putty and don't know what you’re referring too.
Can you assure us that Councillor Heath has an unblemished attendance record for all the many roles he has had, now you've raised the issue.

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stevemac1970 says...
9:28pm Thu 25 Feb 10

OK Town Guard, when Cllr Heath was a Conservative, he used to be the one that got Cllr Putty to go to council meetings, Cllr Putty would all too often forget. So that in mind, who should people vote for, the one who puts his neck on the line for reasonable quality housing, that's what Cllr Heath was doing when he was told he went to the standards board (it's all there on the web) or Cllr Putty, who used to just pass it over to Cllr Heath to do.... I really don't care about your character assassinations, it's those games played against others why I left the Tories in Basingstoke.... they called a man who took a bullet for his country a traitor, you go ahead and support them, but for me, until they deselect the Cllr who said that and chuck him out, they remain hypocritical. And if you think the Mayor should ignore the needs of the towns people as an elected member then he would be guilty of bringing his office into disrepute. So answer, if the Tories are so right, why is Maria Miller so quiet. By the way, good bit from Rob Blaye the Conservative in todays paper I thought. You people make it so easy for others to side against you it's like candy from a baby.

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stevemac1970 says...
10:01pm Thu 25 Feb 10

Oh and for information purposes, you're wrong about all other Mayors being none political, Tom Garland was an openly political Mayor. So now cast your mind back to when you had the dear old lady Mayor saga, conservatives said, don't matter what the persons politics or what you think of her, it's her rightful place to say thank you for her years of service...... Was it Gwen Richardson was the Mayor in question. Labour attacked her, I supported her.... I haven't done a u turn on what I believe, think the Tories have though. Oh and while we are at it, lets kick out the independents, they're not a registered party are they so don't submit accounts..... NOT my view but obviously the Tories.

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Town Guard says...
10:15am Fri 26 Feb 10

Stevemac

You are funny - Councillor Heath spent years attacking the Labour/Lib Dem joint administration
(which often relied on the support of Independent Councillors)

This cross party working was bad for the Borough said Councillor Heath.
What the Council needed a majority Conservative group to provide strong leadership.

Be careful what you wish for.

Suddenly, (and by complete
coincidence, shortly after being thrown out of the Conservative Party) Councillor Heath is all in favour of cross party working with people of all parties and none.

You've convinced me that the Conservative Party is awful and treated you dreadfully. Don't get mad, get even.

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stevemac1970 says...
1:17pm Fri 26 Feb 10

There's no better way to get even with them than to defend what's right, and in this case that's Cllr Heath for Mayor in May 2010. As a pensioner of the town called me to say, "I've lived here all my life, and these people move to the town and think they know it all, if they listened and done something about what we tell them, they might just start to earn some trust, but it's going to take a lot to get there after this fiasco" I'm not about to argue with that. Anyway, what's your idea to get even?

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Phil Heath says...
3:36pm Fri 26 Feb 10

Sorry Townguard, please use real names it is so bad hiding in shadows,
I have never attacked any party for cross party alliances I always attacked indecisive Leaders and their policies. I supported many of them two when I thought they were right and spoke against Conservatives when they were wrong,which annoyed several of my conservative friends.

You can also find a report in the Gazette before the Tories took control asking whether "a rainbow coilition was not needed for Basingstoke" Cllr Paul Harvey was Leader and wrote back supporting many of my arguements.

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Hiliter says...
7:13pm Fri 26 Feb 10

Hiliter.In fairness to Cllr heath he was pretty even handed in his criticism of all political parties when he was in opposition as a Tory Councillor.The Labour group probably has more reason than any to bear a grudge against him but I'm glad to see they have risen above this and argued their case on principle and have supported the system of the Mayor being confirmed based on length of service to the Borough,irrespective of any views they have about the Mayor elect from year to year.Cllr Chapman would do well to remember how he and many of the Tory Cllrs were content to use Cllr Heath to savage all opposition- for example when Cllr Heath supported him when he was intent on closing the Haymarket Theatre despite the lobbying of many community groups.Cllr Chapman now faces the prospect of being installed as Mayor in the most embarrassing and degrading of situations.We will all look forward to hearing his acceptance speech on the night.I dare say he will have the gall to say something complimentary about Cllr Heath and even shake his hand.Nearly as bad as the John Terry and Wayne Bridges scenario.Finally Im really surprised that our local MP has been able to keep out of this so far as this must be damaging Maria Miller greatly and the integrity of the local Tory Party.

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stevemac1970 says...
7:19pm Fri 26 Feb 10

I have to say, Cllr Heath does have an important point there. There are a few conservatives coming out and saying an awful lot of things that can't be substantiated but not putting a name to it. Such as the attack on the labour group for not saying who their legal advice was from. Thing is, I've been going over the web cast and Paul Harvey clearly states... "our advice" the Mayor then adds the word "legal" and everyone shouts that Labour lied about legal advice. Why do people have to hide and lie, just do what people like myself do, have nothing to hide, come out in the public giving your name and tell the truth.... It's not rocket science, but it is the honourable thing to do.

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