Tag Archives: bradford

The man who braved the Bradford riots & was slated by a Tory secretary of State is now Lib Dem Lord Mayor of Bradford

Geoff ReidThis week, Liberal Democrat Councillor Geoff Reid became Lord Mayor of Bradford. He was proposed for the office by fellow Councillor Jeanette Sunderland. Extracts from her speech follow. It’s longer than our usual articles, but it’s a fascinating read.

Geoff has a lifelong record of community service as a Methodist minister and Councillor. He has spoken truth to power and provoked the ire of a Conservative Cabinet Minister. He played a pivotal role in providing support and healing for communities in Bradford after the riots.

You can read more about him on the Telegraph and Argus site here.

It is with great pleasure that I ask for the support for the nomination of Councillor Geoff Reid to be the Lord Mayor of Bradford for the municipal year 2016-2017.

Geoff Reid will bring a depth to the role of Lord Mayor which finds it roots in his history as a Methodist Minister, a politician, a collaborative write, a visitor to pubs and his love of public transport.
Geoff Reid born on the same day in 1946 as Freddie Mercury, in a two room flat in the Scotswood Road area of Newcastle upon Tyne. His parents wanted a council house but having only one child failed to qualify.

His father, who had returned from five years as a Prisoner of War to become a leading light of the Tyneside Anglo-German Friendship Society, joined a self-build group of 32 men who completed 32 houses in their spare time. Geoff moved across the city to North Heaton, eventually attending Heaton Grammar School. In the 1950s he came on an early visit to Ilkley with Newcastle Methodist Mission Poor Children’s Summer Camp.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 5 Comments

Five jailed over postal vote fraud

The BBC is reporting the jailing of five people, including two former councillors, for postal vote fraud in Bradford.

…the men plotted to get Conservative candidate Haroon Rashid elected in the Bradford West seat using fraudulent postal vote applications.

One man admitted conspiring to defraud the city’s electoral registration officer and was jailed for 11 months.

The four other men had denied the charge but were found guilty and jailed for 21 months at Leeds Crown Court.

Posted in Election law | Leave a comment

David Ward MP’s maiden speech

Back when Cix was the main way of talking to other Lib Dems online, a tradition emerged of posting Lib Dem MPs’ maiden speeches so that people could read them and respond – a tradition LDV would like to continue. Yesterday, we brought you Duncan Hames and Simon Wright.

I praise the hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Luciana Berger) and all those who have made their maiden speeches for their eloquence and endurance. It is customary during a maiden speech to speak in complimentary and glowing terms-indeed, frivolous terms in some cases-about the relevant constituency. However, I hope people …

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Should all fun events in December have to include “Christmas” in their title?

That would seem a pretty far-fetched demand. But what else to make of the complaints from Labour councillor and Methodist Rev Paul Flowers?

Bradford Council has been involved in organising and/or publicising a large number of events this year which feature Christmas, as shown by these examples:

  • German Christmas Market
  • Christmas Light Switch On Events
  • Victorian Christmas Market
  • Bradford Christmas Street Market

There’s also the event called “Midwinter Medieval Celebration”.

Clearly Bradford isn’t banishing Christmas, but should it have to stick Christmas in the name of all events?

Well, Rev Paul Flowers has complained (in the Daily Mail):

Why, oh why, must they now resort to the stupidity

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Postal vote fraud allegations against Bradford Conservatives come to court

The trial, expected to last around 10 weeks, of six people over allegations of postal vote fraud intended to help the 2005 Conservative general election campaign in Bradford West started yesterday.

Haroon Rashid, the general election candidate, and five others are on trial. A seventh person, the former deputy chairman for finance in the local Conservative association Alyas Khan, has pleaded guilty.

As The Times reports:

Tory activists in a marginal seat hatched a postal ballot fraud in an attempt to rig the voting system at the last general election, a court was told yesterday.

Their “well-organised attempt to subvert the democratic process” involved

Posted in News | Also tagged | 5 Comments
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