Following an anonymous poll of all 60 city councillors by the Sentinel, the city is set to be run by Alby Walker the leader of the BNP.Eight out of the 60 councillors have said that they would vote for Abbey Green's Walker. Four indicated that they would vote for Peter Kent Baguley (Potteries Alliance) and four for Roger Ibbs (Conservative).
Worryingly 10 councillors said that in their opinion no-one was up to the job whilst 15 said they had not made their minds up.
This poll comes just 24 hours before the 186000 population go to the polling stations and vote YES for a system of council leader and cabinet or NO for retaining the mayoral system of governance.
If the city vote Yes, the 60 councilors would vote for a leader next May. Mark Meredith would then have to see out the remainder of his time in office knowing that he does not have the support of the people of Stoke on Trent.
I am a little concerned over the timing of this poll from our City Newspaper as it could look that this is a ploy to get the city to retain the mayoral system as people may be worried about having a BNP leader. Should a newspaper be stirring up issues like this?
It is worth noting that the BNP have 9 councilors now, so to see Alby Walker get eight votes in the poll is not surprising.
What this poll does highlight however is how divided the local Labour Group is and there is now a clear indication that the party is split several ways as to who should be leader. Surely now this party needs to regroup and get behind whoever is chosen as Labour Leader, Mike Barnes, Joy Garner and Mark Davis are the obvious candidates for leader.
The 15 who could not make their mind up is more like an indication that the Independent and non aligned councillors are waiting to see who they can make a deal with.
Paul Breeze, who is co-ordinating the pro-mayoral 'No' vote People's Choice campaign, said the results of The Sentinel survey show why a leader from outside the council chamber is needed.
He said: "We need a directly-elected mayor chosen by the people. Sixty councillors will never form a consensus on who should be leader. Strong leadership can only come from a mayor chosen by the people."
But Potteries Alliance leader and Democracy4Stoke activist Mr Kent-Baguley said several councillors could make successful leaders.
He added: "If people really believe that there is no-one suitable to become leader, then it is very sad.
"They are overlooking the real experience and expertise that some members of the chamber have."
This story comes a day after my tongue in cheek evaluation of the movers and shakers in our City.
Over to you, I think it should be open season on this........
Read the Sentinel article here:
33 comments:
I am a little concerned over the timing of this poll from our City Newspaper as it could look that this is a ploy to get the city to retain the mayoral system as people may be worried about having a BNP leader. Should a newspaper be stirring up issues like this?
The job of the media is not to report the news its to sell papers !!! nothing more nothing less I too am more than concerned over this polls timing but then i`m not surprised by it as foretold by a books protocols.
3. We shall deal with the media in the following way: What is the role played by the media today? It sometimes serves to excite and inflame those passions which are needed for our purpose, and at other times it serves the selfish desires of other parties.
5. We have effectively taken possession of the minds of the Goy communities to such an extent that they have all come to look upon the events of the world through the colored glasses which we have placed on their noses.
These are just two snippets from a book that i will post and make a serious posting on should any one wish to hear the fascinating co- existance of government and govenors of a country. How this books linked what it has to do with these " elections" and what it has to do with our county/country
Partisan
10 councillors said that in their opinion no-one was up to the job
this i think is the most frightening of statements...
Partisan
Now, this is exactly what concerns me, about putting a cross in the YES box.
How are all these Councillors going to vote, and decide who this Leader will be? Groups will clearly have to be formed, maybe, Labour/Cons or BNP/Ind, and a Leader could come from these two. Deals will have to be done, to get the person they want.
This poll is worrying, if our own Councillors are still undecided, and some, even go as far to say, none are good enough for Leader.
My head tells me, to vote NO, and let the people of the City choose. However, I feel that, too much power is placed into one person's hands, under the Mayoral System. So,I did change my mind, and think, it was only right to vote YES, as this will give Councillors more say in the decisions that are made. Will it though? I am not convinced, as to be honest, I personally feel, there is not much difference between either system. I am aware, that to vote NO, will probably mean a possibility of a BNP Mayor. Now, is this right, that you should vote for a system, just to keep the BNP out. Shouldn't we be voting for the system that you prefer. Either way, the BNP stand a good chance.
So, with one day to go, I think I've actually made up my mind.
When it comes to brass tacks and with all the knowledge that my research has shown time and again to be exact, nita i think the choice is this .. Elect a Mayor ourselves or let the people we elect to represent us elect their own. The rest of this is smoke and mirrors. And though I dont like in any way shape or form this Meredith geeser, the people elected him not the old boy school.
Partisan
An interesting story and quite possibly designed to sway people towards a NO vote.
But then again who is to say that the BNP will not form part of an alliance running the city from next May. Some kind of coalition will need to be formed as no single group holds a majority, and as we heard last week Councillor Alan Rigby of the City Independents is already trying to make deals with the BNP.
I'm absolutely fed up of this Mayor so I'm going to vote NO to get rid of the Mayor system.
Ethel I think you want the top of your legs smacking! You vote YES to get rid of the mayor. I guess you know that already!
Tony,
thats no way to speak to a frail 101 year old lady (who has seen out two world wars, I'll have you know)!
Clearly, this is the masterstroke of the mayoral apologists. By the timing of this so called 'poll' The Sentinel has clearly now come out in favour of a NO vote tommorrow, and I predict that they will probably support a NO vote in their editorial tommorrow.
The headline story is extremely misleading because it gives the impression that if we vote YES and abolish the mayor, then the BNP will be odds on favourite to take the leadership of the council. I tell you now, that WON'T happen, because there are no elections next year (even though there probably should be an all out council election if the city votes YES) and the BNP don't have enough support on the present council to take the leadership.
How on earth will the BNP take the leadership with 9 votes out of 60? This is presented as some great shocking revelation that we should all be worried about, but as has been pointed out, the article does NOT say that 8 of those councillors who said that they would support him would have been BNP councillors!
Furthermore, the extremely biased and misleading article does not tell us the liklihood of the BNP winning the mayoral election next May if we vote NO tommorrow. In reality, that eventuality is far far greater than the BNP taking the leadership outright if we vote YES. Furthermore, as we already know, while there would be no way at all to get rid of a BNP mayor for 4 years, we could get rid of one much sooner if the leader system were adopted and if the BNP managed by some miracle to get the job in the first place. Isn't that why the BNP are the only party who are totally united in the campaign for the referendum, and are urging their supporters to vote NO to retain the mayor?!!!
If the NO vote do now win tommorrow (and we see a flurry of similarly misleading letters in tonights Sentinel putting the case for the NO, backing up the headline story) it will be this turn of events that I think will have swung it for them. I have to say, The Sentinel should be utterly ashamed of themselves.
DEAR ALL,
TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!
The Radio Stoke half hour debate regarding the referendum is available to be listened to by clicking on the following:
Listen: Referendum debate with Stuart George
Please get AS MANY people as you can to listen to this because it adequately explains most aspects of the issue and EMPHATICALLY reveals why we MUST VOTE NO, and why ALL OF US have a RESPONSIBILITY not just to ourselves but to OUR children and the NEXT generation to VOTE NO. Those councillors - ALL OF THEM, EVERY SINGLE LAST CRAP ONE OF THEM who called for this referendum by recommending a return to a TOTALLY FAILED Leader and Cabinet system should be ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES. THEY ARE AN UTTER DISGRACE TO OUR CITY - EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM WHO VOTED TO DON THIS TO US. I HAVE NO RESPECT FOR THEM WHATSOEVER.
All the rest of us MUST now GET OUT THERE and MAKE SURE that the people of OUR CITY OF STOKE-ON-TRENT VOTE NO to SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY and OUR CITY!!! DON'T SIT ON THE FENCE!!! DON''T SIT BACK AND WAIT TO BE DISENFRANCHISED!!! DON'T SAY YOU'RE TOO BUSY!!! THIS IS OUR CITY, OUR DEMOCRATIC RIGHT TO CHOOSE IS AT STAKE.
WE HAVE ONE DAY. TWO DAYS AT MOST IF YOU COUNT REFERENDUM DAY. I'M GOING TO BE WORKING MY BALLS OFF EVERY SECOND OF THAT TIME TO KEEP OUR DEMOCRACY, OUR CHOICE. SO SHOULD YOU!!! DON'T BLOODY COMPLAIN AFTERWARDS THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE.
COME ON! COME ON! COME ON! WHERE ARE YOU!!!
DON'T LET THE COUNCILLORS TAKE CONTROL. LET US KEEP CONTROL OF OUR OWN CITY BY MAKING SURE WE
VOTE NO
Oh my, it appears Mr Breeze is losing his marbles.
I was actually thinking of voting NO but he has changed my mind. With his display on the politics show and his subsequent rants, I think I shall now be voting YES.
What are these posts by Paul Breeze all about? I'm all for bringing the passion back into politics but the poor man seems as if he has gone loop de loop! What with these posts and Sunday's debate, I urge people to vote yes instead of no for this paranoid ranting! He must be desperate.
Sorry about the Paul Breeze POSTINGS guess I been SLEEP WALKING again and posting RANDOM POST with rand USE of Capitals
This a Sentinel ruse to influence the referendum, nothing more, nothing less. I notice comments to this effect were being removed from the story on their site.
Also noticed a couple of comments accusing the Sentinel of playing both sides. They are quite happy to print the kind of stories that stir people to vote BNP but at the same time condemn the existence of the BNP in Stoke-on-Trent. Again, these sort of comments were removed.
Goes to prove that the free press doesn't believe in free speech especially when you point out how duplicitous they are.
Lets hope that PKB is not choosen to be the leader, we all remember his failings when deputy leader of the Labour Group, doing things without consultation with his group then letting Tory Boy Any Party Wragg take control of the budget which Peter then voted against, which then got him expelled from the Labour Party...Call that Leadership more like failure.
If PKB and the Fibbs came joint second with four votes. This means that Joy got less than 3 votes - if she voted for her self and her sister (EMB Member because my SiS is leader of the group) voted for Joy - What does this say about the faith the Labour Group have in her - NONE - Lets hope the TAXI TRADE KILLER - does not get the job of being Leader of the Council.
How come Rigby got - NIL POINT - No votes - did he fail to vote for himself hoping the BNP eight would vote him into power! The biggest Joke on TV last week! apart from John Davis - NO QUESTION - JUST HOT AIR - on question time.
By the way - NORRIS - I just come down a new road in Tunstall that went past your house - think its called the NORRIS WAY.
Yeah, its a really good road, shame it was delayed for so long!!
well done, pity it still causes tail backs from Chell roundabout around the turnhurst roundabout , going back to the green way roundabout. £12million and how many jobs?
What Road??
Saw the photo of the local BNP with the article and had to laugh at a comment left on the Sentinel website (which subsequently got removed - miserable bastards).
In an obvious tribute to Police Academy someone signing themselves as Mahoney said something to effect of "The BNP boys enjoying themselves outside the Blue Oyster bar". The Sentinel didn't find it funny cos like I said, they'd removed it when I looked at the article an hour later.
Just wanted to thank everybody for contribution.
Whatever, the result - thanks - your blog is great. :)
Troll: What Jobs?
We all agree here that the Sentinel are obviously in the campaign for a no vote, I wonder why? Maybe it's just because it makes more news stories for them. A mayor is much more likely to annoy people because he/she has so much power so doesn't have to care what people think, so it makes more news. Perhaps it is just the news for a mayoral campaign they want which perhaps is easier news and more of a campaign than the process of the council choosing a leader. It's a bit mean of them though.
Nicky,
I agree this is such a blatinly obvious pitch by The Sentinel for the NO campaign it's unreal.
You have to wonder what their agenda is.
Are they trying to cosy up to Mo Chaudry and co?
At the risk of nailing my colours to the mast. Go get 'em Mike!! Whatever happens you fought a great campaign, if it was boxing Mr Breeze would have thrown the towel in after the debate on Sunday! The labour party need to come together after the ballot. Thanks for the comments on the blog, remember we are the only place for debate, no censor here! Your Site, Your City, Your Say! We are not here for profit, or with an agenda, we just want the party voice back. Not just EMB/BNP!
I'm voting YES to the mayor in the morning!
It was meredith that had PKB booted out of the Labour Party.
Naturally,everyone disagrees with that stupid decision.
Just look at thje figgers like this, its only the BNP backing Alby Walker. There are 9 BNP members on the council who tend to stick together, Alby not going to vote, That leaves 8, and you can bet your last doller that them 8are the other BNP councilers, and there you go. It worrys me more that 4 would vate for Mr. Dogder Fibbs, I meen, Jesus Christ, have these lot got no ideer of how the locals feel, the old buggers about as populer as the black death.As anyone seem a post on this site or the other in surport of the prat,hes a joke.
PKB would be a sole trader, working on his own, in his own little phone box, if he became leader - what hope for stoke with him in charge.
Norris is upset because the Road was named after Ann James....oop's...James Brindley Way
Wolfe 2 is coming to Stoke - the Ice Ring will return - lock up your son's - Mayor Wolfe is back!
Mind you better off with Wolfe 2 than PKB .... I am in charge do it my way or I leave the Labour Party.
Make Joy - Taxi Killer the leader - she then can kill off the rest of Stoke.
Barnes for leader - he sink us!
Fibbs would close us!
Just turn off the light bulb and let Breeze run it!
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