Earlier tonight, John Howell was selected by the Conservatives to be their candidate in the Henley by-election. His selection has been welcomed by Stephen Kearney from the Liberal Democrats, who has already been hard at work on the Henley by-election campaign trail for several weeks:
After a difficult selection process [a reference to this], the Conservatives have settled on County Councillor John Howell as their candidate in the forthcoming by-election.
The Liberal Democrats have welcomed the news of the selection of John Howell. Liberal Democrat candidate and charity boss Stephen Kearney said: “I am looking forward to debating the issues that affect people across the Henley constituency with Councillor John Howell in the coming weeks.
“Our campaign has been up and running for several weeks, Nick Clegg has surveyed the entire constituency and we are getting a very warm reception on doorsteps. We are ready for the Conservatives to fire the starting gun whenever they are ready to provide local people with a date.”
John Howell is an Oxfordshire County Councillor, which means his and the Conservative Party’s record on the county council is now likely to come under very close scrutiny. Indeed, the party’s own press release on John Howell’s selection states:
Liberal Democrat Deputy Director of Campaigns Neil Fawcett said:
“We are delighted that the Conservatives have settled on Councillor John Howell. The selection of a senior County Councillor will provide local people with the chance to have their say on rising Council Tax bills and the Conservatives’ record in Oxfordshire.
“Stephen Kearney will be a strong voice for local people. He has an excellent track record of listening to local communities as part of his charity work. Stephen has already taken up a number of local issues such as the loss of local services, expansion onto the green belt and anti-social behaviour.”
UPDATE: John Howell has now come under scrutiny for his links to property developers.
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9 Comments
John Howell will make a great successor to Michael Heseltine and Boris Johnson.
Howell is described as: ‘. . Formerly a partner in Ernst & Young responsible for opening Eastern Europe after communism. Latterly a presenter for BBC World. Now specialises in international visual communications. Adviser to successive UK governments on overseas trade and aid. Parish Councillor in Warborough, local organist and choir director and environmental campaigner. [oxfordshire.gov.uk] . .
. . and [by the Tories] . . “very personable, media savvy and yet a man with the common touch – a working class boy who went to grammar school and worked his way up in the world.” [thamenews.net]
His Cabinet responsibilities are: culture change and customer focus; human resources; social inclusion and equality; communications; information and communications technology; services for members; and South Oxfordshire liaison and local strategic partnership.
“Nick Clegg has surveyed the entire constituency”
Busy chap then . . . .
Kearney has NOT done “charity work” in any normal sense of the term. He has done salaried work as CEO of a charity whose main financial outgoings are its own payroll. “charity work” means volunteering not earning high-sided salaries. This charity of his seems to be offering to franchise parts of their operation. They are quite simply consultants.
“Kearney has NOT done “charity work””
Really Paul. You should know that telling the corner shop owner to put your 2p change in the collection jar is elevated to “charity work” in LibDem leaflet land.
It ranks alongside “an election expert” being reported in their newspapers saying that the LibDems are well placed to win the seat. The “election expert” being Lord Rennard and the voters never told that he is a LibDem Lord.
Just another of the little dishonest techniques the sneaky party use.
I welcome my namesake being nominated as it is high time that a john howell receives recognition in government affairs. Like Councillor Howell, I too work for OCC and despite occasional mix ups between us in terms of e mailing, I am standing aside to allow him to take on the role. I will settle for a PCC seat.
Neil Fawcett said “The selection of a senior County Councillor will provide local people with the chance to have their say on rising Council Tax bills and the Conservatives’ record in Oxfordshire.”
That’s handy, that will allow us to show that all ‘alternative’ Lib Dem budgets since we took control at OCC had CT rises higher than ours.
Or that the LD Vale has rises of the legal maximum every year, compared to Tory SODC of 0%. Yes zero. (For last year at least I believe possibly two)
Or perhaps we should just note your Oxfordshire leader’s words that indicated she didn’t think your higher rate rise this year was a problem.
Actually this is all about trying to build a bit of a campaign around a deliberately misquoted statement from tory campaign literature circa 2005.
Typical Lib Dem campaigning.
A letter to the Oxford Mail alleges:
“I have just received a letter from Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg urging me to apply for a postal vote at the Henley by-election and to return the application form to the Liberal Democrats in Oxford”
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/letters/display.var.2326876.0.murky_depths.php
Surely that can’t be true?
Chris Paul is wrong.
People employed by charities are paid substantially less than counterparts in the for-profit sector.
Paid charity work involves a substantial element of sacrifice.
Ask Frank Field MP.