Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Harringay resident and ex St. Ann's Ward Cllr Brian Haley wants to be London's Mayor
According to Dave Hill, over at the Guardian, Haley is in the race to become the Lib Dems' Mayoral candidate. I don't normally take an interest in such trival stories (let alone publicise them) but, given his local connections and colourful history, thought it would provoke a few comments.
I don't regard him as a serious candidate. I suspect he's doing this to raise his profile (being one of just a handful of BME LDs), get put on a quango or two and, even, become a peer of the realm. Lord Haley of Harringay?
Tags for Forum Posts: Ann's, Brian, Democrat, Haley, Harringay, Liberal, London, Mayor, Quango, St
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Words fail me (for once)!
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Well now, at the end of 2009 when you were chair of Tottenham Tories you clearly did "regard him as a serious candidate". According to Richard Merrin, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Hornsey, Wood Green, the local Tories were in discussions with Mr Haley about defecting to your party. Mr Merrin wrote that you were negotiating with Mr Haley about getting him on the North London Waste Authority; and on the Conservative Party Candidates list.
Or were Mr Merrin's comments just sour grapes because he joined the LibDems?
(Labour councillor Tottenham Hale)
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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I'm glad to see Alan's voting for him over on the Dave Hill blog. I agree. As Mayor our Brian will exceed his highest ambition as Head of the World's Greatest Waste Authority
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Permalink Reply by Justin Hinchcliffe on
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Yes, we were in discussions with him. Being a local councillor is one thing, being the Mayor of a huge and successful City like London is quite another, don't you agree? The reason he didn't join us was becuase we were not prepared to enter a 'Dutch Auction' with the Lib Dems.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Didn't Brian Haley have a declared interest in a North London waste disposal firm?
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John, can I try to clarify the position?
The "North London waste disposal firm" you mention is "LondonWaste Ltd" This was previously a joint venture company owned by the North London Waste Authority (NLWA - a consortium of boroughs including Haringey) and SITA a private company. In 2009, by mutual agreement, SITA sold its 50% share. So NLWA is now wholly publicly owned.
When it was owned 50:50 the participating boroughs nominated councillors to sit on the North London Waste Authority. Former councillor Brian Haley was one of those nominated for (I think) some six years. NLWA councillors picked some of their number to serve as Directors of LondonWaste Ltd the joint venture company. Brian Haley was so selected and at one point he chaired the Board of LondonWaste Ltd and its (then) subidiary company Polkacrest Ltd. For this he received director's fees. In 2007 these totalled £15,300 p.a. By my calculations, adding this to his "Cabinet" member allowance probably made him the highest paid councillor at that time.
As Brian Haley was appointed to the NLWA by Haringey Council I am sure he would have acted solely in the best interests of Haringey.
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Does that include the then Leader, Cllr. George Meehan?
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You mean the highest paid at that time? Yes, as I recall, the former Cllr Haley was paid more than Cllr Meehan.
It was, and is, a feature of a system whereby certain 'posts' in the 'gift' of a local council or, these days, a Mayor or Council Leader, carry extra payments of one kind or another. They are, by the way, entirely legal and legitimate.
In my view, in the interests of transparency, all such payments/ allowances to elected councillors should be fully and publicly declared. And of course, this should now mean all councillors having such declarations online.
Trying to ensure that my figures were accurate, in December 2007 I emailed Mr Haley asking him about the allowances he then received. He didn't reply.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Round these parts (Stroud Green) Brian is remembered for volunteering at a residents assoc. meeting that the extension of a CPZ over the Oakfield Road bridge (over the railway line) was, "silly". It was then pointed out to the Executive Cabinet Member whose department had made this silly decision ...
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It will be interesting to see how many of their Haringey councillors, including Harringay's very own Cllrs. Alexander and Schmitz, publicly endorse (and vote) for him.
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Permalink Reply by Anette on
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Not a chance. The publicity machine will have him, chew him up, strip him of all credibility and spit him out in a heap if he even gets as far as the race.
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More here. Today's pitch seems to be, "Hey, I'm still Labour, but the Lib Dems are more democratic..."
Shouldn't think that will play too well....
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