LEFT WING FIREBRAND councillor Aaron Kiely may have been missing* from the meeting of the full council last night but he was ably replaced and somewhat surprisingly by Conservative councillor (and political advisor to both Thurrock MP’s) Mark Coxshall who called for a “narrowing of the gap between the wages” at either end of the pay scale at Thurrock Council.
The surprisingly socialist sounding soundbite came in the middle of a somewhat complex debate on the localism act and the pay policy.
The pay transparency stipulations of the Localism Act essentially require councillors to take a greater role in determining pay, ensuring that these decisions are taken by those who are directly accountable to local people.
They have also been conceived to ensure policies on the pay and reward of the most senior staff are set clearly within the context of the pay of the wider workforce.
The Act also requires full Council to be given the opportunity to vote before large salary packages are offered in respect of new appointments.
In relation to its ‘lowest paid’ employees, the council have to determine who these are, and the reasons why they have been defined as such.
Tory leader councillor Phil Anderson opened the item making reference to the failed attempt, last year , to propose a 5% cut for senior officers.
Cllr Anderson’s bottom line was to ensure a fair and equitable relationship between the two ends of the payscale.
The debate got bogged down on a number of issues and called for a twenty minute debate where Tory members and officers discussed a number of amendments.
In the end the
Cllr Coxshall spent the time in deep discussion with the Thurrock Gazette reporter (salary 15k) whose own boss earns 601k!
*Cllr Kiely did not send his apologies but told his twitter followers a few hours before the meeting that he had a migraine.
In the end, the council passed the motion with one minor amendment.
Perhaps Cllr Kiely should lay off the tweeting as migraines are a common side effect of excessive use of mobile devices!!!!! Alas It would now appear that he has forgotten his Council duties as well as the people of Ockendon?
Perhaps he could tweet a photo of himself, as the residents may well have forgotten what he looks like…
Blooming heck look at the picture of this guy. it looks like something out of the Muppet Show!! i started getting a migraine just looking at his picture!! The beady eyes, high eye brows, honestly i was scared to death by this guy. I’m sure i heard some rumour that this guy was in the BNP before joining the conservatives. wealth redistribution? since when has any tory every cared about wealth redistribution. Honestly i wouldn’t trust this Cllr Coxshall if he was the last name on the ballot card !!!, he looks like someone keen to do some wealth redistribution without the explicit consent of the owners!!!
In the fictional world of The Smurfs, Gargamel the Evil Wizard is the sworn enemy
of the Smurfs and always tries to capture the Smurfs. He is the main antagonist 🙂
There must have been a rumour that the BNP were making a comeback at the last marxists are us meeting. Either that or someone had too much LSD in their herbal tea, organically grown tea of course.
Perhaps Cllr Kiely was busy reading his favourite novel: ‘The Invisible Man.’
C100boyz i love the creative use of imagery going on here. So i’m assuming that in the Smurfs that Gargame is either David Cameron or Phil Anderson or in this precise case Cllr Coxshall and the Smurfs the local people, who must avoid capture!!! if anybody knows the best way of avoiding capture lets us all know.
Definitely too much LSD
You have got it wrong Garry heart. I heard Thurrock tories call him uriah heap ?.
upthereds” in a previous blog suggested that Cllr Kiely may be using his Councillor allowances to fund his university activities, in view of his absence from the meeting of the Full Council on Wednesday 29th February, I am inclined to the view that “upthereds” suspicion is justified. Cllr Kiely could not be bothered to send his apologies for his absence, a courtesy which would not have required a strenous effort on his part, it seems he was well enough to continue “twittering” This young man appears to be giving the residents of South Ockendon the reverse Churchillian V sign. Cllr Kiely if you do not want to be perceived as having “conned” the South Ockendon residents, to say nothing of your Party comrades, then give as much of your time to your responsibilities as a Councillor as you do to your Student Union activities. You may deceive the voters once but they will not let you deceive them a second time, but that might not worry you unduly as you will have had four years as a Councillor with the monetary benefits that you receive as a result.
The editor of “Your Thurrock” describes Cllr Kiely as a “left-wing firebrand” some may consider “a damp squib” a more appropriate description.
You should hang your heads in shame for mocking Cllr Coxshalls Marty Feldman like appearances. Unless one is a Labour Cabinet member who can afford plastic surgery ones physical appearances, however stomach churning, should not distract from ones abilities as a councillor.
Cllr Coxshall, however afflicted, should be appraised on his work as a Conservative Councillor for the ward he represents. One hopes the electorate vote on ability and past performance rather than just vote for any old troll wearing a blue rosette.
And Ben Gadsby, as you are someone who has stood as a Conservative candidate in the local elections and must be active within the local Conservatives, should one take your comments that it is a running joke within Conservative circles that nobody sees the said councillor in the ward he supposedly represents.
You are very naughty for making such a comment Ben – did you not get selected to fight a winnable seat this year?
Sorry Dave, not sure I’ve been clear. My quip was in reference to cllr Kiely, the lesser spotted left-wing firebrand. I’m a good boy who.would never dream of joking about a fellow Tory, “top” or otherwise!
Thanks for clearing that up Ben. Hope you have been selected to fight a safe seat or have they dumped you in West Thurrock this year?
I have to agree with Dave Peterson, it is shocking that some fellow bloggers mock the awful and rather muppet like looks of Cllr Coxshall. I would ask all those mocking Cllr Coxshall to consider how you would feel if you looked like an ogre? Because he looks dwarfish does not mean he should be an extra for Lord of the Rings. His stomach churning looks should not be a factor, some suggest he is a self serving politician, but as Dave points out: ‘however afflicted, should be appraised on his work as a Conservative Councillor’ Treat the man with respect at least he values equality and makes a good point about redistribution of wealth. A point might i add that i totally agree with.
These a light-hearted, witty jokes of which I doubt the Cllrs involved are loosing any sleep over. If you endeavour to work in politics you’ve got to have a high tolerance for jokes/opposition or else you’d spend most of your budget on tissues and therapy.
Abbie Blogger the joke around here is the total disregard for local people by some of these politicians. You may not have realised that many local people are loosing sleep because they have no job, i think local people have had to get a high tolerance as you put it for the total inept way conservatives like Cllr Coxshall go around trying to use real issues to score a point. Therapy!!! i’ve needed therapy since this article was released and the nightmares started because of this Coxshall.
Lack of Jobs, nothing to do with 13 years of a Labour Government spending beyond its means, even in the good times. Relying on tax incomes from banks and forgetting about the rest of the economy and in doing so failed to regulate the banks properly as they saw them as their cash cow. Cllr Coxshall from my understanding run a business before entering politics, thus he was someone who created real jobs. It’s Labour who destroy jobs by wrecking the economy and used the public sector to hide rising unemployment due to businesses seeing the UK as a bad place to invest.
Gary Heart – I am mostly definitely aware of the realities of employment. My comment was to justify the light quips. Conservatives give power to the people and reward them with opportunity and responsibility, however, you can’t expect Cllr Coxshall to click her fingers and produce 1000 jobs- it takes time.
Abbie Blogger comment understood. at least his picture will soon disappear. I don’t think any other article and picture has created such topical conversation over the last 3 years i’ve been commenting on Thurrock news!! Now we’d appreciate getting wind (ooh that sounds a bit rude) of some conservative policies so we can give some expert commentary.
Gary Heart – I’m glad 🙂 Perhaps we need to start using pixelated images!