Bid for LGA Chairman  PAGE 1 OF 3

The current Chairman of the LGA is Sir Simon Milton.  Until recently, Simon was Leader of Westminster City Council.  He was first elected LGA Chairman in July 2007 and was recently returned unopposed at the Annual General Meeting in July 2008.

Boris Johnson had already retained Simon as an unpaid advisor but, very recently, Boris offered him the role of Deputy Mayor (Policy and Planning).  Because this is a paid job, Simon cannot continue as a councillor and therefore also has to stand down as LGA Chairman.  He has announced his intention to do this in early September, as soon as a successor is elected.  Convention dictates that the largest Party group provides the Chairman of the Association which means that the contest for a successor is among Conservative councillors.

After taking soundings from council leader colleagues around the country and having received considerable support, I have decided to put my name forward to succeed Simon.  Nominations have now closed and there are five candidates:

Click on the name of any candidate to leave this web site and to visit their own page on their council's web site.  Use the çbutton to return to this page.

Here is a link to my Manifesto/CV.  Use the çbutton to return to this page.

Here are some links to press comments in the run up to the start of the election:

Municipal Journal (3 July 2008) announces the result of its MORI poll to find the most impressive local government leader and places me fifth overall.  Use the çbutton to return to this page.

Municipal Journal (10 July 2008) features an article written by me (as Chairman of the South East England Region) and Cllr Peter Box (Labour Chairman of Yorkshire & Humber Region) in which we both attack the government's proposals to transfer strategic planning powers from regional assemblies to unelected, government-appointed quangos.  Use the çbutton to return to this page.

Local Government Chronicle (17 July 2008) where the front page speculates on likely "runners and riders".  Three of the six mentioned here are in the final run up!  Use the çbutton to return to this page.

Local Government Chronicle (31 July 2008) where a number of local government contributors list the qualities they believe a LGA Chairman will need.  I took these suggestions seriously;  I examined my own qualities and skills against the list and this helped me to decide to put my name forward and to ask the electors to select the best candidate.  Use the çbutton to return to this page.

The next page contains some media clips to demonstrate my media skills.