Conservative councillor suspended for six months
Observers will remember a time in the last couple of years when barely a month seemed to go by without a councillor in Merseyside getting reported to the Standards Board for England.
Since then the rules have changed and local standards committees rule in the majority of cases.
Paul Waugh has blogged on the case where a local standards committee has thrown the book at Conservative Bertha Joseph of Brent Council over allegations about the way she handled donations from two local companies.
She has been suspended for six months and ordered to pay ã900 to the Mayor's charity.
This is an excerpt from a statement from Brent Council:
"These sanctions were imposed following findings that Councillor Joseph failed to register within 28 days receipt of two gifts of cash amounting to ã900, brought her office into disrepute by seeking and obtaining the cash for 'sponsorship' of the Mayor's Ball which she used to buy clothes, and used her position as Mayor to gain an advantage for herself by obtaining the cash (for 'sponsorship' in the context of the Mayor's Ball) which she used to buy items that were of personal benefit to her."
Quite amazing.
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David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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It's more amazing than you think - with only faint resemblance to our own Petrona Lashley affair in 1994. Two years ago, this Tory was a Labour councillor. Now she wants to be a Tory MP. Not content with turning coat, she's also turning tricks. She is the current arm-candy for 'happily married' cricketer, Clive Lloyd - much to the loyal Mrs Lloyd's astonishment. I know great pressure is heaped on ethnic minority politicians to be - excuse the phrase - whiter than white and exemplary role models. Less scrutiny and judgement is visited on politicians from the majority community. But even so, this is a particularly egregious case of malpractice. Disappointing, to say the least