William Russell, Barker Bridge, The City of London, Cronyism & Self-Aggrandisement

Many see the City of London as an old boys network shot through with nepotism. The fact that councillor William Russell has already occupied the position of aldermanic sheriff and looks set to become a Lord Mayor is indicative of this. Russell’s great grandfather Frank Bowater was Lord Mayor of London 1938-1939. Frank Bowater’s older brother Thomas Vansittart Bowater was Lord Mayor of London 1913-1914 and also a conservative MP for the City from 1924 to 1938. Frank Bowater’s oldest son Noel Vansittart Bowater was Lord Mayor of London 1953-1954. Frank Bowater’s youngest son Ian Frank Bowater – William Russell’s grandfather – was Lord Mayor of London 1969-1970. If William Russell becomes the fifth member of his family to be Lord Mayor of London in just over 100 years, this can justly be perceived as dynastic and will serve to underscore that a local authority elected on business votes can never be meritocratic. Even the ultra-reactionary City A.M. rag has used the old boy phrase when covering Russell’s rise through this local authority’s hierarchy.

Bank of China CEO Sun Yu Shameless Enough To Accept Freedom of the City of London

Given our recent post on Freedoms of the City of London being handed out to paedophiles and disgraced politicians, we weren’t surprised to clock a new piece of opportunism on this score. The City is keen to get on board with China’s incoherent Belt and Road Initiative, so the fact that last week they handed a ‘Freedom’ to the head of the Bank of China UK was something that could have been predicted in advance. Obviously after laundering the Russian dirty money that’s been drying up of late, the City are desperate for new sources of income – everything the City does is instrumental.

Edward Lord & Sex Discrimination In The City of London

So called ‘equality campaigner’ Edward Lord’s suggestion that women form their own City of London council masonic lodge is insulting since this would self-evidently exclude them from the power and privileges that accompany membership of the Guildhall Lodge. Drawing on both archival and freemasonic sources for our data, we have pointed out in various posts dating back to last year that since the men only Guildhall Lodge was founded in 1905, more than 50% of City of London lord mayors have belonged to it. Lord could not possibly have been unaware of this when they (Lord) made their defence of the use of council premises by men only masonic lodges and in doing this they (Lord) was clearly placing their masonry and City of London politics above any belief they (Lord) might have in sex equality. If Lord wants to be taken seriously as a politician who is passionate about diversity, they (Lord) should stop making excuses for sexism and patriarchy when it comes to freemasonry and start tackling the issue of men only lodges and their influence in the City of London by getting such institutions banned from local authority premises.

Tim Hailes & The Bizarre Twists & Turns of ‘Patriotism’ in the City of London

He may not have been to Eton or have a great grandfather and grandfather who’d been Lord Mayors of London like William Russell, but Tim Hailes is another perfect candidate for top office as far as the City of London establishment is concerned. Hailes has worked for J P Morgan since 1999 where he is a Managing Director & Associate General Counsel in the Legal Department. He’s also a liveryman, a freemason (most Lord Mayor’s belong to this men only club) and no longer a Tory student activist (he was as a young man). Since conservatives in the City stand as independents, and not all of them want to overtly display any political colours, those who don’t belong to the Tory party – even if they once did – can group around The Royal Society of St George. Timothy Russell Hailes, alongside quite a number of his fellow City councilors, is a member of this ‘minor English institution’.

Ian Paisley Jr, Aung San Suu Kyi & Paedophile Keith Harding All Awarded Freedom of the City of London

If the City of London was a transparent and democratic local authority it would stringently vet those being awarded its honours and have a mechanism for revoking them should reasons for doing so come to light once they are bestowed. Unfortunately the City of London is feudal and in desperate need of democratic reform, with its honours system being as out of step with modern standards as its political set up. Not only are eighty-percent of its councilors elected on undemocratic business votes, and as a result its residents have virtually no influence over its policies, it is necessary to have been bestowed the Freedom of the City of London to stand in local elections. In other words, anyone who wants to contest a City of London council seat has to first apply for a dubious ‘honour’ that’s been doled out to paedophiles and human rights abusers. That in itself, let alone the rigged political system, is enough to put many off contesting council seats.

Sue Langley, Aldermen & The City of London’s Rotten Political System

Until the City of London is democratically reformed with the abolition of business votes and a reduction in the number of its councillors to a level commensurate with its residential electorate, its political system will provide an attractive target for those inclined to manipulate voting systems and seeking an easy route to power and influence. We will continue to keep an eye on upcoming City of London elections. Later this year Matthew Richardson is scheduled to step down as Billingsgate alderman. An election in that ward might well be of wider interest than the alderman contests we’ve reported in recent posts.

Matthew Richardson, Diversity, Gender Identity & Freemasonry in the City of London

Aside from his insistence that women should be excluded from all male institutions such as the Guildhall Lodge, Edward Lord – who plays a lead role in the council’s diversity initiatives – shared a flat with his fellow freemason and City of London councillor Matthew Richardson around the time the latter made a transphobic speech in the USA: “Matthew Richardson, Ukip’s party secretary and a close ally of Nigel Farage, branded trans women undergoing surgery ‘she-males’ and said the NHS should not help people who needed gender reassignment surgery. He blamed ‘socialists’ who he said supported people whose gender needed to be reassigned. ‘Socialists think that if somebody wants to reassign their gender the state should pay, they think that’s how the world works,’ he told an audience of several right-wing groups in the United States. ‘So if you love she-males come to the United Kingdom, if you love freedom – stay here [the United States].’ ”

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