Havering’s Councillors: The Democratic Deficit in Action

Havering councillors are mostly male, elderly, wealthy property owners.¹ Their biases are revealed when setting the council’s budget. The classic example is the 30 minutes free parking policy, privileging motorists above other, non-statutory, priorities. It isn’t hard to imagine what a council with a majority of young mothers, would prioritise. Council tax payers are paying for the biases of councillors, which is the price of the democratic deficit.

Home-owners

Havering’s councillors are relatively old, with a third being 60+, which implies they are home-owners.² Home-ownership is revealed by Register of Interests statements.³ Additionally sixteen councillors (29%) own two or more houses, making them very wealthy.⁴

Religion

Inexplicably Council meeting begin with Christian prayers. 30% of British people say they’re atheist, with only half claiming to be Christian.⁵It’s probable most councillors are token Christians, atheist, or, of other faiths. Prayers are said by a priest offering Divine Guidance.

Diversity

A fifth of Havering’s residents weren’t born in Britain.⁶They aren’t represented in the council chamber. Neither are the under 35s or the disabled.

Allowances

Astonishingly councillors receive an ‘allowance,’ which they qualify for by attending one meeting every six months.⁸ Nine cabinet members are paid £35,000, which is just below the average wage of Havering’s residents. Two get more. Five cabinet members work and their £35,000 is for a part-time role.⁹

Discussion

This is the outcome of Havering’s democratic deficit. No-one is to blame.Very low turnout at local elections is grim proof of the deficit. Active politics is a minority ‘sport’ with few willing to participate, even marginally. Democracy is about who can be bothered. Havering’s council accurately reflects the democratic will of the people.

Like it or not.

Notes

1 Your Councillors | The London Borough Of Havering Councillors don’t reveal their age but the Register of Interests points to 32% being retired. Five female councillors are retired. Collectively 42% of Havering’s councillors are retired. This isn’t definitive and it’s possible the figure is larger, and very unlikely to be smaller.

2 Chapter7olderpeoplechapter7v21.pdf (haveringdata.net)

3 The Register of Interests is a legal document, which is treated with contempt by some councillors. Classically there is Ray Best’s ‘statement’. mgConvert2PDF.aspx (havering.gov.uk) Most councillors fill in their Register statements diligently

4 Housing prices in Havering (ons.gov.uk)

5 How life has changed in Havering: Census 2021 (ons.gov.uk) see also The Church is losing an entire generation. Here’s what you can do about it | Magazine Features | Premier Christianity The other 20% belong to various non-Christian religious faiths

6 loc.cit

7 *Young* is ambiguous and will become more so when the voting age is reduced to 16 years old.

8 Councillors attendance summary, 15 January 2024 – 9 July 2024 | The London Borough Of Havering

9 For the list of principal allowances which are in addition to the basic £10,412 for all councillors Issue – items at meetings – MEMBERS’ ALLOWANCES SCHEME | The London Borough Of Havering Councillors set the amounts they receive through a vote.

Upminster By-election, 10th August 2023

RAs traditionally are possessive about their wards. It is their ward. Everything is important because they live alongside their voters. RAs regard Party politics as an obnoxious distraction in local government. They glory in being ‘amateurs’ unsullied by party bosses dictating policy decisions.

Jacqueline Williams doesn’t list her address in the election notification.¹ So what? Her fellow Upminster councillors are cabinet members with listed addresses despite their high profile. Not listing her address makes her semi-detached about core Resident Association values. Modern RAs are a clique trading on a diluted brand.

The late Linda Hawthorn became a councillor when she was 37 years-old. She served her ward for 33 years as a true RA, receiving a miniscule allowance at the beginning. Allowances were £200 a year in 1990. Jacqueline will receive £10,412 p.a. Needless to relate Linda listed her address, home phone number and wasn’t in it for a pension supplement.

Hornchurch and Upminster Conservative Party

Conservative Central Office have thrown their candidate, Ed Green, out of the party He flaunts his obnoxious views.² Did Hornchurch and Upminster Conservatives ‘discover’ his opinions like everyone else – through reading the Romford Recorder? Do they even care?

Selection committees scrutinise candidates. His proposers, Samuel Green and John Mylod, must know him. So, what sort of political conversations did they have? He’s been ejected from the Conservative party but they’re still members. Why? There’s a question mark over the entire selection panel for the same reason.

Meanwhile everyone has noticed Julia Lopez’s deafening silence.³Conservative Central Office should see if Hornchurch and Upminster constituency party is rotten to the core.

Addendum: The election result

Jacqueline won a stupendous victory massively defeating all other candidates

Notes

1 Notification of candidates Upminster By-Election 2023 Statement of Persons Nominated (havering.gov.uk) The Havering Daily published self-penned descriptions of candidates. This is Jacqueline’s Upminster By-Election Special: Jacqueline Williams – Upminster Resident Association Candidate. – The Havering Daily She’s quite entitled to not list her address but it goes against the RAs DNA.

2 Suspended Conservative Ed Green defends Greta Thunberg post | Romford Recorder See also Hornchurch and Upminster Conservative Association select their candidate for Upminster by election. – The Havering Daily

3 Julia Lopez MP | for Hornchurch & Upminster See also the Conservative website News | Hornchurch and Upminster (hornchurchandupminsterconservatives.com) both accessed 8^th August 2023

4 Local elections | Election results | The London Borough Of Havering

Havering’s 2022 Election: an Unexpected Outcome

Local politics is a cult with a tiny number of activists.¹ As a result, local politics relies heavily on these people to finance it, the most important of whom are councillors along with their families and friends. Any significant downturn in their financial status immediately effects their local party.

The 2022 election was a disaster for Romford Conservatives because they were defeated after 20 lucrative years. Damian White and his cabinet lost tens of thousands of pounds in allowances each. Other Conservatives lost smaller, but significant, amounts. Hundreds of thousands of pounds in allowances no longer flow to the Conservatives.² Romford’s Conservative councillors suffered a lifestyle changing event in May, 2022.³ This reduced their enthusiasm for financing the party.

On the other side of the coin Ray Morgon’s HRA⁴ have finance they’ve never had before. HRA is a federation which doesn’t have the costs of a political party. Their 2022 poster campaign did, however, indicate a direction of travel. So, it’s possible HRA will become a borough political party. HRA’s junior partner, Labour, have had an increase in councillor allowances with two cabinet posts. This should improve their campaigning.

These unexpected financial consequences could reshape Havering’s political landscape. The Conservatives are starved of money, which could expose them to the mercy of wealthy backers. Another scenario is activists will promote hobby-horses, which might end up being extremism of one kind or another.

Notes

1 John and Philippa Crowder; Oscar and Gillian Ford; Dilip and Nisha Patel. These three families are an extreme example of the cult-like atmosphere. Oscar and Gillian are the most powerful husband/wife politicians since Arthur and Margaret Latham in the 1990s.

2 Romford councillors pick up the basic £10,412 p.a (£239,476 in total so they aren’t entirely bereft and may have a bit left over to contribute towards the party – if they want.)

3 Due to Damian’s pot-of-gold policy virtually every Conservative has lost at least £3,000 per year.

4 HRA = Havering Residents Association

Havering’s Winds Of Change: HRA Take Over

The Council Tax meeting, 2^nd March 2022, saw Ray Morgon attack the ‘pot-of-gold’ politics of Damian White. HRA produced a detailed analysis of allowances paid to Conservative councillors,¹ not all of which were value for money. His ‘compare and contrast’ analysis is unambiguous. Every single additional allowance for 2022-23, will be reduced and some ‘jobs’ deleted altogether. Morgon’s proposals shrink the allowance budget by £218,434.

Unfortunately, £218,434 is too small to make a significant difference in the Council’s multi-million pounds budget.² Nonetheless I applaud Morgon’s direction of travel. The horrible, insincere Osborne slogan³ “We’re all in this together’ actually means something in Havering.

Conservative councillors are used to significant supplements to their basic allowance of £10,412.⁴ They now face a dramatic pay-cut. Damian White’s allowances reduce from £56,317 as Leader to £18,062 as Leader of the Principal Opposition. Former cabinet members lose their £29,356 allowance.⁵ At least two appear to be full-time politicians, which means they’ll be making major reappraisals of their lives.

The Council has suffered catastrophic financial losses from Covid-19. In addition, central government grant cuts and massive increases in demand for statutory services will worsen the dire financial situation. Morgon’s team have massive challenges facing them but this is a good symbolic start.

Notes

HRA is the Havering Residents’ Association

1 (Public Pack)SUPPLEMENTARY AGENDA Agenda Supplement for Council, 02/03/2022 19:30 (havering.gov.uk) p10

2 Every time the Bank of England raises the interest rate by 0.25% it adds £250,000 to the borough’s interest bill.

3 George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer 2010-16, used this slogan to promote the destructive Age of Austerity.

4 This allowance is unchanged

5 They received this and the councillors allowance of £10,412.