Are Cornwall's Tory Councillors squabbling over allowances?

That very leaky rumour mill at County Hall (where would we be without it?) is awash with tales of splits and threatened resignations within the Conservative group over that subject closest to the hearts of our elected representatives - their allowances.

Apparently there is a 'difference of opinion' between the basic-salaried backbenchers and their handsomely compensated leadership over how to react to the upcoming recommendations of Cornwall Council's Independent Remuneration Panel. You may recall that, early on in the life of the Council, the ruling coalition of Conservatives and Independents voted down a motion by the opposition Lib Dems which called for a freeze in councillors' allowances on the grounds that everyone should wait and see what the Panel's verdict would be.

Now it seems, with a General Election looming, the Council's Leader, Alec Robertson, is no longer keen on waiting for the Panel and wants his councillors to take a hit in the pocket for the greater good of the party. The backbenchers, on the other hand, feel they should be paid a little more than £12,000 a year for what is, in all fairness, a time-consuming and generally thankless job.

Word seeps out that Cllr Robertson has played the ultimate trump card (so early on?) and threatened to resign if the drones don't fall into line.

Cassandra's guess is that Smart Alec will win the day, especially with a potentially close-fought election looming, but will he have done lasting damage to his relationship with his voting fodder? You can't pull the resignation trick too many times, that's for sure. Will the boys and girls in blue expect to be paid back in full after the election? And what will their Independent partners make of it all? Can't wait!

Has Caroline Righton fallen in with the wrong crowd?

It's said that things have been a bit glum for the Tory faithful in St Austell following the disastrous St Austell Bay by-election a fortnight ago, but it looks as though Conservative Central Office have sent in the clowns in an attempt to revive 'Life Auditor' (and campaign gaffe-magnet) Caroline Righton's bid to be MP for St Austell and Newquay after next year's General Election. The reinforcements have come in the form of an eyebrow-raising trio of chaperones sent to 'help' on the campaign trail.

Firstly we have the 'Shadow Minister for Cornwall' Mark Prisk (MP for Hertford and Stortford, a mere 260 miles from the Duchy) who showed up in the Clay Country this week to join Ms Righton for a photo-op at the proposed eco-town site and a snoop around St Austell. You may remember that the wild-eyed Mr Prisk found himself in a spot of bother earlier in the year for claiming expenses for his campaigning trips to Cornwall, even though there's no Cornish Ministry for him to Shadow. (I've no doubt at all that it was an honest mistake and that he was working within the rules.)

Next to be wheeled out was David "Two Brains" Willetts, Shadow Education spokesman. Aside from his Mandelsonian ability to put embarrassing resignations behind him, Mr Willetts is famed for his relative intelligence within the Shadow Cabinet. But it seems he's not quite bright enough to change his own light bulbs, preferring instead to bill that onerous task to the taxpayer. Mr Willetts was happily on hand this week to shepherd Ms Righton through a visit to Newquay Treviglas School.

The hat-trick is due to be completed later this week when fresh-faced Tory Housing spokesman Grant Shapps, friend of Bob 'The Agent' Davidson, rolls up in Newquay to hold Caroline's hand through a gawp at "eyesore" hotels.

So what do these three wise men have in common? None of them, despite a supposed interest in the affairs of Cornwall, were prepared to vote in the House of Commons for a Cornish tickbox for the 2011 Census forms. The box does no harm, and it won't cost anything, but it seems Caroline Righton's little helpers don't think it's important for Cornish people to be able to call themselves Cornish (although they do think it important that we should send more of their mindset to Westminster).

We can only hope that these fine gentlemen become more culturally enriched during their campaigning stops in Cornwall. And that they aren't pretending it's Shadow Cabinet business for the purposes of their claim forms.

Is Sally Bain up to the job?

By all accounts the fragrant Sally Bain, Cornwall Council's Cabinet Member for Children, put in a disastrous performance at this morning's meeting of the Council in Truro. It had been revealed by Cllr Graham Walker (Lib Dem, St Austell Bethel) that the Council is seriously considering the closure of 80 of Cornwall's 237 primary schools, and it seems that Mrs Bain struggled to regain her composure from that moment on.

Asked to comment on a recent referendum held over school closures in the North Cornwall villages of St Mabyn and St Tudy she apparently declined, except to say that she wasn't sure that the campaigners in those villages were acting with the best interests of their children in mind (I imagine they'll be surprised to hear that). She was also attacked for the near total lack of policies and projects in the 'Forward Plan', the bland document the Council produces in an attempt to look proactive.

Time and again Mrs Bain had to defer to her director, Richard Hubbard, to drag her out of the mire. Interestingly Mr Hubbard has been in post for about a month as opposed to Mrs Bain who has been picking up the salary since June.

I'm told that Conservative Members were looking fairly glum throughout the mauling, and Alec Robertson must be wondering if it's too soon to have a re-shuffle. Let's hope he doesn't. As I've written before, Cornwall Council could do with a splash of colour.

The Tory peasants are (allegedly) revolting in St Austell

Word reaches me that all is less than rosy among St Austell Conservatives in the light of last week's surprise by-election defeat to the Liberal Democrats. Apparently the unrest stems from the local party's treatment of Richard Stewart, the previous Cornwall Councillor for the area, who prompted the by-election by standing down in September. Mr Stewart had been a hugely popular local representative for a number of years and was that rare breed of Councillor who commanded strong support across voters (and other councillors) from all parties.

The suggestion among some Conservative supporters in St Austell was that, when he became ill, pressure was put on him to stand down almost immediately in order to trigger a by-election in the Tories third safest Cornwall Council seat. If this is true the rationale behind this would probably have been two-fold. Firstly, an easy win in St Austell Bay would have been trumpeted as a terrific boost for Caroline Righton, their parliamentary candidate, and secondly it was a golden opportunity to parachute the Cornwall Tories' election guru, Bob Davidson, into a safe seat thus putting him at the heart of the County Hall end of the General Election operation. Mr Davidson had missed out by a mere 19 votes when he had stood in the Bethel ward in June and it does rather seem that the Tories were determined to have him as part of their Cornwall Council team come hell or high water.

The trouble is voters don't particularly like being taken for granted, and it turns out there were mutterings from Tory supporters throughout the by-election campaign about the treatment of Richard Stewart with some making it clear they would "never forgive them for what they've done to Richard". All of this is pretty painful stuff for the Tories if it's true.

Perhaps the most astonishing aspect of this is the arrogance of the Tory high command in Cornwall. Alec Robertson, Leader of Cornwall Council, and his sidekick, the perma-furious Jim Currie apparently both rolled up to the election count ready for the coronation of 'Bob the Agent'. Reportedly magnanimity was thin on the ground as, when the result became clear, they all departed in disgust (Mr Davidson wasn't even a good enough sport to stay for the official declaration).

This rounds off a poor second half to the year for Caroline Righton. A botched attempt to boost morale by forcing a by-election follows hot on the heels of the "Dickhead" smear storm and, if there really is a divided local party in St Austell, it doesn't stand her in good stead for a General Election which is only six months away. The irony is that Bob Davidson was brought in to make sure a mess like this couldn't happen.

(MK blogger Zetetist has produced an excellent review of the St Austell Bay by-election and its repercussions here.)

Labour's Depressing Defeatism

Both nationally and here in Cornwall the Labour party appear to have accepted the seemingly inevitable and addressed themselves to the prospect of defeat in next year's General Election. At Westminster their greatest ambition now looks to be preventing the Conservatives from achieving an overall majority, while closer to home there seems to be little evidence that the party exists at all. There are no Labour members of Cornwall Council, the party ran no candidates in North Cornwall, and they could only manage a meagre 66 votes (5% of the poll) after their non-campaign in the recent St Austell Bay by-election.

Jude Robinson, the party's PPC for Camborne & Hayle, is usually an exception to Labour's Cornish anonymity rule, but even she has slipped into the trap of openly contemplating defeat by posting a hung parliament conspiracy theory on her website. The page includes the claim that the Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, has offered a deal to support a minority Tory administration after the election. Aside from the fact that this is not actually true (you can read the real quote here) it strikes me that Labour and the Liberal Democrats should be trying to find some common ground nationally if they want to avoid another generation being lost to the Tories.

Yes, I know there's an election coming up and politicians of all parties have to get involved with a lot of pointless posturing between now and polling day, but I'm starting to form the impression that Labour (especially in Cornwall) has retreated so far into the bunker that it no longer has a clear view of the real world outside. Even with a punch-drunk Prime Minister, a supine media and Lord Ashcroft's millions to buy an election for them, the Tories are still struggling to climb above 40% in the opinion polls (Labour were registering nearer 50% in the run up to the 1997 election). There is still a natural majority of progressive, non-Tory voters out there, and if Labour and the Lib Dems are smart between now and March/May/June (i.e. not taking needless lumps out of each other) they may find themselves with the opportunity to deliver an electoral system which actually reflects the votes cast. This in turn will mean that any future government will have to govern by consensus - would that really be such a bad thing?

St Austell Bay - Where did it all go wrong for the Tories?

On Thursday the Conservatives lost their third safest seat on Cornwall Council in a surprise by-election result in St Austell Bay. The popular local Councillor Richard Stewart, who resigned from the council in October due to ill health, had won the seat for the Tories in June with a majority of 361 in what was considered to be largely 'blue' territory. How then did they come to suffer a 13% swing to the Liberal Democrats only six months later?

I think the first point to make is that Richard Stewart was a highly respected and popular local representative who had previously served the area for many years on Restormel Borough Council. Inevitably a large proportion of his majority in June was a personal vote, so this may go some way towards explaining the extent of the swing. Nevertheless, great chunks of the St Austell Bay ward should be strong Tory hunting grounds (particularly the Carlyon Bay area) and certainly enough to make this a safe seat.

Some will make the argument that the new Tory/Independent administration is already unpopular and that this result reflects public disgruntlement which will stop Tory gains in next year's General Election. I don't think this is true - yet. Much as there are many reasons to criticise the new rulers at County Hall, I don't really think that debate is yet taking place to any extent beyond those who watch Cornish local government closely (most people have better things to do, I suppose). There is perhaps a sense that it's probably someone else's turn to run the Council after the Liberal Democrat years and that the new administration should be allowed time to find their feet. There is also the fact that a Tory-led Council has a friendly, Daily Mail-owned print media and the odd aspiring (yet confused) shock-jock as its sole scrutineers in the outside world.

So what turned everything upside down in St Austell Bay?

The Tories would have started the campaign as frontrunners, so it was important they picked the right candidate to set the tone of the campaign. Bob 'The Agent' Davidson is a highly-rated political organiser for the Conservatives, and is the man in charge of their well-funded mission to challenge the Lib Dems in Cornwall at next year's General Election. He doesn't live in the ward.

By contrast the Lib Dems picked John Oxenham, a well-known local man with a reputation for hard work who does live in the ward. The battle lines pretty much draw themselves.

Add to that a couple of contentious planning issues and the usual committed local campaign from the local Lib Dems and you start to see how the gap was narrowed.

I can't honestly say I blame the voters of St Austell Bay for rejecting a party spin doctor who had only recently stood (and lost) in another ward. There was a hint of arrogance, hubris even, in the Tories taking the voters for granted and assuming they could give their agent a salary and a role at the heart of things without offering anything in return.

And that is probably the biggest lesson for the Tories. They are starting to display the same arrogance in the way they are running Cornwall Council, and if they don't stop to listen they may yet find that the voters across Cornwall will punish them a good deal sooner than they think.

The 'Cretin Forest' of Politics

For the first time in a long while I went to County Hall the other day and was struck by the fact that I didn't see anyone of any notoriety the whole time I was there. I don't mean notorious in the dastardly villain sense, rather the mildly notable is-that-the-bloke-I-sometimes-see-on-Spotlight sense. I may have just picked the wrong time to be wandering around the old carbuncle's gleaming 2001 style interiors, and I shouldn't be so superficial, but I was kind of hoping to bump into, say, a Bert Biscoe or a Pat Harvey or (for old time's sake) an Andrew Mitchell. I did see a lot of Members milling in and out of the mysterious wooden doors (I may have spied Jim Currie, but I wasn't sure he looked angry enough) but I'd be hard-pressed to put a name to any of them.

I know it's "early doors" and that I should hope that the, still relatively new, Cornwall Councillors are too busy cracking on with the job to worry about a media profile, but I honestly want politics at whatever level to have some sort of edge to it. Politics is full of desperately dull, on-message automatons (of all parties and no parties) scared to rock the boat in case they lose the trappings of power (such as they are). The likes of Dennis Skinner, Ken Clarke and Charles Kennedy seem to belong to a bygone, slightly more 'warts and all' era of politics and there doesn't seem to be any sign of a new generation to replace them when they shuffle off the the House of Lords (possibly not in Mr Skinner's case).

Similarly it doesn't seem that Cornwall Council has yet managed to find quality replacements for Steve Barnes, Armorel Carlyon, the aforementioned Mr Mitchell and many others. One or two from the new intake show a touch of promise - Ruth Lewarne for the Lib Dems, Andrew Wallis for the Indies and the stunningly bonkers Jim Flashman for the Tories - but by and large we're looking at a sea of mediocrity.

Perhaps my headline is a little harsh but prove me wrong, new guys!