The Week in Westminster, 9 March
Cllr Franklin expelled by Medway Tories for Islamophobia three years after being shown he was Islamophobic
So, farewell then Michael Franklin, councillor for Luton and Wayfield, who has finally been expelled by Medway Conservative three years after his grossly offensive tweeting was highlighted by this website.
In January 2016, we published an article highlighting the Islamophobic and otherwise offensive tweets of Cllr Franklin. In February 2016, these tweets were raised at full council. And then.. nothing.
No action was taken against Cllr Franklin, and last year, Medway Conservatives reselected him to fight for the Luton and Wayfield ward again. Change occurred last month when Baroness Warsi highlighted Cllr Franklin’s tweets, which led to the national party stepping in and a suspension finally being imposed.
Now, over 1,000 days after the issue was first raised, he has been formally expelled from the party.
Continue reading “Cllr Franklin expelled by Medway Tories for Islamophobia three years after being shown he was Islamophobic”Virtual Doorstep: International Women’s Day special
It is said that elections are won on the doorstep, and that may well be true. Being armchair activists, it’s difficult to check up on that.
Twitter and blogs however are part of our social media present and future, and if the election was decided there, how would each of the wards be looking?
Know the power of women in leadership
Ahead of International Women’s Day, Medway Labour councillor Naushabah Khan looks at how the fight for equality is going.
This week in honour of International Women’s Day, and well, because I would have done so anyway, I went to watch On the Basis of Sex. Spoiler alert, the cleverly titled film is a moving story about the early years of Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, a US Supreme Court justice; an exceptional woman, now in her eighties, who championed women’s rights in America.
At a particularly poignant point in the film, Ginsburg is challenged by her male counterpart in court, who accuses her of wanting the country to undergo ‘radical social change’. She upends his line of attack, reminding him that the ‘radical’ change he is so worried about meant that prestigious Harvard Law School still did not have female toilets.
Watching the scene, I couldn’t help but reminisce about a story told by female MP who recalled a similar experience. In her first year of entering Parliament she had sought a bathroom, only to be told that women did not have access to one in the entirety of this section of the parliamentary estate. The only difference between her story and that of Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, was that this was 1997 not 1957.
Since then, within a short space of time, great progress has been made in striving for gender equality and promoting women in politics, public life and society; championed by a Labour government committed to furthering women’s rights. But there is much work still to do and within political parties the challenge remains significant. Take as an example the fact that Labour has never had a female leader, or that we were not immune to the need for change put forward by the #MeToo movement.
Continue reading “Know the power of women in leadership”Voice of the Opposition: March
Once a month we will be offering the Leaders of both Medway Council and the official opposition the opportunity to talk unedited about.. well, Medway politics.
Today we hear from Vince Maple, leader of Medway Labour, the official opposition on Medway Council.
With a little over 50 days to go until May 2nd, the focus now is firmly on the pledges which each main party is putting forward.
I’m proud of the manifesto launch held this past weekend at Dragon Co-Working in the heart of Medway. A packed room heard outstanding speeches from our administration in waiting on the key pledges to the residents of Medway. We were also joined by the Shadow Treasury Minister Lyn Brown MP who gave an inspiring speech, in particular highlighting how austerity has impacted on the community she represents.
Continue reading “Voice of the Opposition: March”Political Figures: Changing the ballot
Once a month we are going to hand over to Alan Collins from Medway Elects who is going to dig into the Medway electoral data, and try to tell us what it all means..
Short of 30 pieces of silver, what does it take to influence a vote?
Three years ago, the authors of this blog shone a spotlight on Mike Franklin, the Conservative councillor for Luton & Wayfield, for sharing unseemly tweets. Last month, following the intervention of Baroness Sayeda Warsi, he was finally suspended as a Conservative councillor and member of the party pending an internal investigation.
Of course, one does not wish to prejudge the outcome of such an investigation, but it is likely the local Conservatives will not wait for its results, and instead select a new candidate for the ward – as despite these claims being brought to their attention what feels like a lifetime ago, he continued to sit as a Conservative councillor and was slated to stand for re-election in May.
Everyone enjoys reading about a good scandal (what, just me?), but do they have any effect on the outcome of subsequent elections? And are there any other major events happening which could also impact the result this May?
Today I am going to be looking at scandals and farces during the 2007-2011 council term, all with their own hints of scandal, and also trying to guess (emphasis on the word “guess”, as data alone is insufficient for this purpose) whether Brexit will have any effect on this year’s elections.
iFAQ: Pentagon purchase
Following on from Medway Council’s decision to pursue a purchase of the Pentagon Centre in Chatham, we sent the following question to relevant portfolio holders, ward councillors, those seeking to represent the ward, and other local organisations:
Do you believe £45m to purchase the Pentagon Shopping Centre is a good use of council funds and why?
As usual, we told everyone that their answers would be published entirely unedited. They are presented below in the order they were received.
Continue reading “iFAQ: Pentagon purchase”The Week in Medway Politics, 3 March
The Week in Westminster, 2 March
Blow For Theresa May As 20 Tory MPs Vote Against Plan To Block No-Deal Brexit
Here is a list of the Tory rebels: Lucy Allan (Telford), John Baron (Basildon and Billericay), Bob Blackman (Harrow East), William Cash (Stone), Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham), David Davies (Monmouth), Philip Davies (Shipley), Richard Drax (South Dorset), Philip Hollobone (Kettering), Gareth Johnson (Dartford), Esther McVey (Tatton), Nigel Mills (Amber Valley), Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot), Tom Pursglove (Corby), Henry Smith (Crawley), Bob Stewart (Beckenham), Desmond Swayne (New Forest West), Robert Syms (Poole), Michael Tomlinson (Mid Dorset and North Poole), and Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes).
Continue reading “The Week in Westminster, 2 March”