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Mayor Johnson has given top jobs to Westminster’s Tories |
Blue letter day for to Torries as Red Ken's defeat frees up jobs
• Sir Simon a planning adviser • Labour fear Olympic blunder from Boris • Buck under threat?
WESTMINSTER Conservatives have been rewarded for their achievements by new London mayor Boris Johnson with a string of top jobs in the running of the capital.
Council leader Sir Simon Milton will step down from the top job at the Town Hall on June 17 to become senior planning adviser at City Hall.
He will be joined in Mr Johnson’s ranks by Kit Malthouse, an ex-deputy council leader, who will advise the mayor on policing.
Nicholas Boles, a former West End ward councillor, has been named the mayor’s chief of staff, while Peter Rogers, the former chief executive of Westminster City Council, has been appointed chairman of the London Development Agency, which helps distributes funding from City Hall.
Sir Simon said: “My excitement at the chance to work in pan-London government is tempered by my sadness at leaving behind my current role.
“Westminster is without doubt the best council in the country and I am proud of the contribution I have made in achieving that reputation.
But while the Westminster Conservatives’ careers are blossoming, the borough’s Labour representatives admit they are now under pressure after polling their worst election results in 40 years.
Murad Qureshi, Labour’s London Assembly candidate for West Central constituency, received a rude awakening at Friday’s count.
Beaten by Mr Malthouse, he polled just over 21 per cent of the vote and only retained a seat after scraping in on his party’s list, via the proportional representation system that tops up the membership of the assembly.
Mr Qureshi said: “I am glad to see Westminster Conservatives are following my lead to the London Assembly – albeit on the wrong ticket.
“I think Labour members are under pressure, but a different kind of pressure. Our task is going to be about scrutinising the mayor and making sure he fulfils his commitments.
“I think after the honeymoon Boris will soon be on the ropes. He will make a lot of screw ups. The Olympics are coming up and he will be in charge. The battle’s over, but not the war.”
Following landslide victories across the country, the Conservatives have targeted Karen Buck’s parliamentary seat as a realistic target in the next general election.
Joanne Cash, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for the new Westminster North constituency, said Mr Johnson’s victory would boost her chances of ousting the Labour MP after 10 years.
She said: “Boris’s victory is tremendous news for London – it is clear from his appointments that Boris has serious and exciting plans for this great city.
“My job remains the same – to earn the trust of the people that I hope to be representing after the next general election. The events of the past week are a fantastic step in the right direction.”
Boundary changes will cut off Ms Buck from thousands of Labour voters in North Kensington. The new Westminster North constituency loses North Kensington and gains Bayswater, a traditional stronghold for the Tories.
Ms Buck said: “I have always considered my seat as marginal since I was elected in 1997. I have never taken anything for granted.
“I will just keep what I am doing. I have had boundary changes, which will make winning difficult – but I do not think you can judge general election results on local ones any more.”
Mark Field, Conservative MP for Cities and Westminster, said: “This time last year, many of us could see no prospect of change in London.
“Ken Livingstone achieved more votes in this May’s election than he had in either of his two previously successful campaigns to be London’s mayor – a fact that has received little coverage in the media.”
He added: “With Kit and Sir Simon on Boris’s team, Londoners can expect much more efficiency and financial scrutiny of London’s police and transport operations than has been the case over the last eight years.”
Labour councillors are not convinced. Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of the Labour group who was elected to Westminster councillor in 1988 along with Sir Simon, asked: “Is Simon Milton really the best qualified person that Boris Johnson can find to advise him on planning and how to build more affordable homes in London?
“Simon Milton learnt everything he knows about flogging off council housing when he was one of the Shirley Porter gang.”
But Sir Simon, speaking at his last full council meeting in charge on Wednesday night, surprised his council colleagues when he said: “If I had to choose one area that I would like to see improved upon it would be affordable housing.”
Privately, Westminster’s senior councillors are divided over who should be the new leader with deputy leader Colin Barrow and Danny Chalkley emerging as favourites for the role. |
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