Blog, July 23: TV twist
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It's probably fair to say that KCC leader Paul
Carter was not best pleased by the discussion that took
place about the Kent TV contract at the
council's all-party scrutiny committee earlier this week.
I blogged earlier on the misgivings
expressed by councillors of all parties about the way the decision
to extend the contract to Ten Alps by a further seven months.
The leader's view is that both he and chief executive
Peter Gilroy should have been invited to attend
the meeting so they could address points raised by
councillors and assuaged their concerns.
He says that he was told the subject would not be coming up and
it is true that it was not listed on the agenda for Tuesday's
meeting. He insists that had it been, he would have been
happy to make himself available, as would the chief
executive.
The result is something of a political row, with Cllr Carter
making ominous noises about whether the Liberal Democrat opposition
leader Trudy Dean will remain as the chairman of
the scrutiny committee. I'm not sure that it is
entirely within his gift as he suggests, as I would have
thought any change in chairman would have to be agreed by the
members of the committee themselves.
Either way, such is the Conservative administration's concern at
what they believe are misapprehensions over the contract, another
scrutiny committee meeting is being hurriedly scheduled at which
both the leader and Mr Gilroy are likely to appear. It is not
entirely clear how this has come about.
Whether Cllr Trudy Dean chairs it remains to be seen. Whether it
is the right thing to hold another meeting is a matter of opinion.
There is an argument that in doing so, even more attention will
come the way of Kent TV. And the question remains why Conservative
members on the committee appeared so in the dark about the
background. If they had known all that they were supposed to know,
it doesn't really explain why so many of them expressed
misgivings.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It could be the kiss of death, of course but three prospective
Conservative parliamentary candidates standing in Kent seats at the
next general election have been identified as "candidates to
watch" by a political consultancy called Insight Public
Affairs.
The three are Damian Collins, who hopes to
succeed Michael Howard as MP for Folkestone and Hythe;
Tracey Crouch, who hopes to displace Labour MP
Jonathan Shaw in Chatham and Ayelsford; and Laura
Sandys, who is hoping to become the next MP for Thanet
South.
They are among 30 to be included in a report that singles them
out for "their ability and potential to become an important and
influentiual political player. These are cabinet ministers,
ministers and shadow ministers of tomorrow."
(I'm not sure how welcome it is for the trio to be regarded as
possible shadow ministers, incidentally)
The list is interesting and one of those things that political
consultancies often do to advertise their work.
One thing that does surprise me is why - given the profile she
has had since becoming ppc and the fact that she is seen as a
perfect example fo the type fof person David Cameron is attracting
to the party - is the absence of Helen Grant,
who has been selected as the PPC for Maidstone and the Weald from
those listed.
Thursday, July 23 2009
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