alder

Mason Edward Goodchild, Clockwork Liveryman Jani Levanen, Plastic Man Gerard O’Sullivan & Barrister David Williams Stand In Farringdon Within City Council By-Election

On the same day as the national election in the UK on 4 July 2024, there is a local council by-election in the City of London’s Farringdon Within ward. Below we provide a rundown of the four candidates – Edward Goodchild, Jani Levanen, Gerard O’Sullivan and David Williams. All are standing as ‘independents’. There is […]

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Prem Goyal Caught Raffling Off His City Councillor Perks

We’ve had cause to mention City council members perks in various posts and it has come to our attention that Portsoken councillor Prem Goyal has been re-distributing at least some of the gratuities he can claim as an elected square mile politician to voters in his ward. Goyal is the only councillor we are aware of who raffles these perks off to his ward electorate. Instead of ingratiating himself with his constituents by offering them the chance of getting freebies at the council’s expense, Goyal should be doing his job and representing Portsoken residents in things that matter – like not having their lives blighted by inappropriate development and having their homes properly maintained. His voting record on these matters is appalling.

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City of London Chief Planning Officer Gwyn Richards Exposed As A Political Poodle

Following our disclosure that the Chief Planning Officer of the City of London council, Gwyn Richards, approved a new application for the redevelopment of 81 Newgate Street, the former BT headquarters which is now to be the headquarters of HSBC, in only 11 weeks over the summer holiday season last year and without bringing the application to the planning committee, and following our quoting the Chair of Policy (= leader of the council), Chris Hayward, telling City planning officers to “make it [the planning process] work for” developers, Alder Sue Pearson raised both matters in a question to Richards in a recent meeting of the Planning Committee. His response exposes him as a poodle of the City council’s political establishment, which in turn is a poodle of property developers. In no other local authority would such brazen promotion of private interests to public detriment be tolerated. A showdown is looming between the establishment and City residents over the London Wall West office development, which Richards is certain to recommend for approval, as he always does.

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Martha Grekos Exposes Nick Lyons, Most Other City of London “Aldermen” & City Solicitor Michael Cogher For Flouting Democratic Principles

The repercussions of the scandal of Nick Lyons overstaying in office as an “alderman” of the City of London council continue to be felt. Most of the other alders (a term that is increasingly used and we prefer) recently attempted to validate his conduct retrospectively by approving “conventions” selectively consolidated by the City Solicitor, Michael Cogher. Those conventions included an addition that Cogher had invented to allow an alder to extend their six year term of office by up to six months as long as the other alders (but not the voters) agreed. This flouting of democracy was exposed by Alder Martha Grekos, supported by residential Alders Sue Pearson and Christopher Makin.

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