5 October - Best of the bunch? She could well be
It
is very depressing that the Leader of Bexley Council - or Sutton if you believe
the Local Government fan-boy website - is considered
to be among the best Councillors in the country. Boris Johnson once said she was
best in London and now Teresa O’Neill is in the running for best anywhere.
Can it really be true that someone who failed to notice that her one-time boss had his finger in the till and
apparently didn’t know that her favourite Cabinet Member was committing a
criminal offence (but somehow managed to put a stop to it within a couple of
hours of being told the game was up) is the best local government has to offer?
So incompetent that she managed to impose Council Tax rates that have increased
at a greater rate than other London councils and despite 16 years of Tory rule
in Bexley not very noticeably improved the borough in any meaningful way. (Parks
that survived the bulldozers are in reasonable shape but beyond that one would search in vain.)
Most of her manifesto promises have not been fulfilled and Freedom of
Information requests and senior Council Officers confirm it but she steadfastly claims otherwise.
At a time when no better candidate for Prime Minister than Liz Truss
and Rishi Sunak can be found (†) it is entirely believable that Teresa O’Neill will be among
the highest rated Councillors in the Country. In political circles the ability
to preside over disasters and remain in charge for 13 years is a skill Liz Truss can only dream about.
Is she saying “Let’s get rid of Khan?”
† To answer a lone phone enquiry I still prefer Truss to Starmer.