Normally this is a snore-fest and it remained so until the vote for Mayor. Stephanie Nunn said she liked being Mayor. She praised people who’d helped her raise £20,000 for First Step. She praised her chaplain and her consort. But she didn’t praise her deputy mayor. This was a hint of what was to come.
Ray Morgon indulged in Jesuit-style treachery. Because his agreement to alternate Labour – HRA mayors was verbal, it was disposable. Gerry O’Sullivan ousted Labour’s Pat Brown.1 But shock-horror! Among the abstentions was Labour’s Paul McGeary. To make sure everyone understood he was a maverick, he abstained on Labour’s Matt Stanton vote for chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Board. An interesting way of resigning from the party.
Ray Morgon’s (35 minutes)2 tour d’horizon was a sea shanty without music. It desperately needed music. HMS Havering has ‘passengers’ going on a voyage. He revealed (38mins)3 it will have a huge deficit over four years. He didn’t reveal where the £82m4 is coming from. His ‘wish and a prayer’ strategy relies on Starmer winning on July 4th.5
Best Team Player: Robbie Misir wearing a green tie
Notes
1 Sue Ospreay has 62% attendance, which isn’t a qualification for deputy-mayor Councillors attendance summary, 1 December 2023 – 25 May 2024 | The London Borough Of Havering
2 Annotator Player (mediasite.com) All times refer to this webcast
3 loc.cit
4 Actually £28m as he’s already borrowed £54m
5 “The proposals to reduce the number of libraries is one of many painful decisions we will need to make until we get a better financial settlement from government which accurately reflects the borough’s changing population and need.” Havering welcomes a new Mayor, addressing concerns about the library consultation, arson attack at the Town Hall – 12hedonic@gmail.com – Gmail (google.com) As Conservatives caused this disaster, he must mean Starmer.
Politics in Havering 
So has McGeary explained his actions? No, a cowardly exit from the Town Hall and good riddance. No great loss to the Labour Party, always late for meetings and then leaves early and misses most with no apology. Go join your pals on the other side (where ever that might be).
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McGeary doesn’t need to *explain* his actions they speak for themselves. They also constitute an unwritten letter of resignation from the Labour Group.
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