As I have had to refer back to notes as to how to do this, it must be some time since I last posted anything on this site.  Hey-ho!  The price of getting old.  Now, if I knew how, I would be able to look back and find a date, but that will probably take longer that writing this update.

The Local Elections are done (old news, I know) and I cannot remember such a long cold and wet April.  I am really surprised that a large proportion of candidates didn’t die with hypothermia and similar debilitating conditions.  Anyway, my agent Nicola Turner kept me going to Polling Day and I was fortunate to buck the losing trend in the Northern Metropolitans and held my seat with a satisfactorily increased majority.  Sadly, my good friends Christine Iredale (the Mayor-Designate), Christine Stanfield and Rochelle Parchment all lost their seats and we also lost Karam Hussain’s seat through his retirement.  Held three, lost four. Not very good and much of it down to national politics, but the actual numbers were nothing like as dire as in 2011.

I celebrated by attending a masonic lodge on the Friday night.  Well, yes I know!  Not regarded as the most liberal thing to belong to, but then, we are supposed to be a broad church and a tolerant party.  Surprising how often we aren’t. Relaxed over the weekend.  After all, having been diagnosed with pulmonary embolisms in January (did I tell you about the near-death experience on New Year’s Day?  No?  Let it pass and take it as read.  Have to remark, though, that the NHS emergency services were really good.), I do need to have my rest.

Visited Provincial Grand Lodge on Tuesday 8th in Harrogate.  It’s always a grand affair and the opportunity to meet old friends (and make new ones).  Surprisingly, there are a growing number of liberals in masonry, although we aren’t supposed to talk politics (but we do!), then on the Wednesday it was our first AGM.  Yes, we don’t do things by halves here in Kirklees, we have 2 AGMs.  The first is to elect the Group Leader and officers and then “off to the pub” and one week later, we elect the other party nominees to “outside bodies” and internal committees and such.  By this time, I was getting some enquiries mainly from the Tories as to whether my name would be put forward to replace Christine Iredale.  Well we had to have an election and I was so elected and nominated on the first AGM.  Was invited to Dewsbury Minster on Saturday 11th to take part in the memorial service to Cpl Jake Hartley – very moving, the family demonstrating such dignity and love.  On Sunday 13th, I accompanied the Chief Fire Officer to the National Arboretum for the annual memorial service for fallen fire fighters.  This became my last official engagement for the Fire Authority which I have chaired for the past three years.  Very sad to be leaving, but my position as Chair would have gone in any event, what with the Red Team now having an unassailable overall majority.

So, I am now Mayor Designate, a veritable virgin being let loose in a wicked world.  On Tuesday, I met the Civic Team led by Sally Greenwood.  She was tearing her hair our because she had lost not only the Mayor Designate, but also the Deputy Mayor Designate, an unprecedented occurrence for Kirklees.  We cleared the diary and started to fill it with Mayoral engagements.  On top of this, I was instructed to invite 30 personal guests to the Mayor making banquet plus a personal speaker.  Quite a daunting task – who to ask, who to leave out, who will be offended and son on.  I submitted my first list to Sally 24 hours later together with email addresses.  And so, to AGM 2 on Wednesday 23rd and I am already feeling somewhat divorced from my colleagues but fighting mentally to retain a grip on normality.  Funeral Thursday, Yeoman of the Guard Friday (not my favourite) and away to London on the Saturday to see a very old friend (not seen for over 40 years) who is over from America on a whistle-stop visit.  Great to see Richard again.  Surprisingly, he has changed very little.  We had lunch at his sister’s home in Ealing.  She and I shared some very personal memories of some 50 years ago when we were both on our own personal voyages of discovery.  Now, that was fun!

By now, I am beginning to learn what pressure Sally and her colleagues work under.  Some of the email addresses for my guests are wrong and by some jiggery-pokery, I now have 32 names plus a speaker.  I am told that the Deputy Mayor Designate (Tory) is being VERY slow in providing his list of names.  I am now receiving copies of emails up to midnight on a daily basis.  Is it right that we employ people to work under this degree of pressure.  Mind you Sally Greenwood does appear to thrive on it.

So, on Monday, I finally get the time to visit a contact in Holmfirth to be conducted around the Brownhills, Ramsden and Ridings reservoirs and to be shown what can best be described as the vandalism conducted by Yorkshire Water in an attempt to comply with a European Directive which is so nonsensical as to be Gilbertian in its proportions.  And they (YW Ltd) are wanting to do the same to Butterley in Marsden – Well, over my dead body, sunshine.  These unthinking public vandals are now faced by a sterner opposition than the three Blue Team members in Holme Valley South, who appear to fall over whenever anyone says “Boo!”  Yorkshire Water will be opposed by the people, the councillors, the Peak Park, English Heritage and, possibly even, Kirklees Planners.  This will be a hard fight but I am certainly up for it.

Tuesday I had a business meeting on another topic which is encroaching deeply into my time, but is the subject of a very different and rambling blog.  I am advised that Huddersfield Town are not being at all helpful in trying to prepare for a potential Civic Reception should they win the play-off final on Saturday.  I go to the Galpharm to confront Nigel Clibbens and his side-kick Ann Hough in their den, in order to resolve any differences there might be between the Civic Office and the club.  They are obviously unaware that the Civic Office works independently from the Municipal Office of Kirklees Council.  All the undercurrent of the Stadium shares issue is kept suppressed but I tell Nigel that to be told in an email that the club will do without a Civic Reception is just totally unacceptable as it is the fans who will expect and demand this and that it is our responsibility to plan for it, irrespective of the result.  I am advised that the Chairman doesn’t want to put the “mockers” on the result and I have to point out that the Chairman doesn’t even need to know that we are meeting.  We reach some form of accord, when I point out that if HTFC win, and a Civic Reception is requested on Saturday night, this will be impossible to arrange for the following Monday because all the pre-planning work with the Police, the stewards, the road closures, the legal notices, the catering, the Town Hall staffing, the bus hire (HTFC’s contribution), the Safety regulations and so on will not have been done.  It appears that what can be regarded as an agreement between two ordinary people is a very different matter when one of those people is involved with a football club!  And so, off to my lodge in Sheffield, to prepare mentally for the nonsense of the morrow.

Wednesday dawns.  Mayor-making day.  Mayor’s Briefing at 12.00 Noon.  This is a meeting of the Chief Exec, the Council Solicitor, the senior council clerks (if that’s the right title???), the leaders deputy leaders and business managers of the political groups and chaired by the Mayor (or deputy, in the Mayor’s absence).  We go through all the annual formal stuff (very similar to a masonic meeting!!) and then through the council meeting.  All seems pretty straightforward – this is the last opportunity to get out of this mad-house and, indeed, the last opportunity for the othr 68 members of the council to do the decent thing.  And so into the ceremonial (having forgotten to have lunch).  My 68 colleagues do not do the decent thing and reject me and so I am elected the Mayor, unopposed and Cllr Bolt (Blue Team, Mirfield) is elected my Deputy (opposed only by Cllr K Smith but I didn’t catch why – something to do with Huddersfield Town, I believe).  We then recess and hold my first Council meeting.

Well!  Here’s another baptism of fire.  Cllr Bolt and I have agreed that the IT system will be properly controlled and that when any speaker’s time is up the microphone will be switched off.  Seems a sensible way forward.  Also that we will endeavour to dispense with the reading of the interminable Declarations of Interest at the start of all meetings.  These should be declared on the annual Declaration in any event.  So, after the formal start, the first major item of business are the statements by the Leaders of the political Groups.  So I called for the leader of the new Grinding Group (Green/Independents).  Cllr Cooper speaks.  I call for Cllr Pinnock (Lib Dems), but Cllr Lyons intervenes.  When asked why, he says he is the Leader of the Independents.  It is pointed out that they are now part of a joint Group and that no mention was made at the Briefing meeting that he would also want to speak.  He was refused.  We then proceeded to item 17 when Cllr Patrick gave notice that he intended to vote against.  Now this is a specific matter whereby one vote against causes the whole matter to fall.  He votes against, the resolution is lost and I am advised to refer it back so that it will come to the next Council meeting.  This effectively has the result that the Council is without a Scrutiny Committee and Chair for a month.  Cllr Light (Blue Leader) goes into outraged mode.  He is reminded that a) one of his team has caused this, b) it has been referred back, c) it was not raised at the Briefing so it can only be regarded as a political ambush (which hasn’t worked) and that d) he should stop acting like a farmer and act more like a Group Leader.  He isn’t happy.  We moved on  and completed the meeting.

Thence to the Dinner, where my boys and their partners trekked up from London and arrived only 10 minutes late after their train broke down in Grantham.  Great speech by my old friend Peter Sorsby and wonderful support from all my guests.  My Charity is launched – the Yorkshire Regiment Benevolent Trust .  We all seemed to have a wonderful time, but so sad for Christine.

Got to sign off now – Civic Duties call.  More later

Am going to try to do this more regularly, if only to have a record of the year.

   Leave a comment