A CONSERVATIVE councillor says residents are paying the price after a Labour representative became an MP.
Dave Robertson replaced long-serving Tory representative Sir Michael Fabricant at the General Election.
But Cllr Richard Cox, representative for Armitage and Handsacre and a cabinet member at Lichfield District Council, questioned how the new Labour MP had continued to be a local councillor given he had not attended meetings for a number of months.
He said:
“I have no doubt that the pressures of being a newly-elected MP are great, but Lichfield residents shouldn’t pay the price for Cllr Robertson’s parliamentary ambitions.
“He has not attended a meeting of the council for more than six months – and didn’t bother to send apologies or a substitute to the most recent meeting of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel.
“He should either start carrying out his district council responsibilities or step aside for someone who has the time.”
But the Labour MP hit back at Cllr Cox’s claims, telling the Conservative representative his assertions were wide of the mark.
“Cllr Cox may be interested to hear that although I was unable to attend the Police, Fire and Crime Panel on 18th November that I had met with the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Chief Constable and Chief Fire Officer and other Staffordshire MPs in Westminster four days before that meeting took place.
“Perhaps if he’d had the courtesy of contacting me before running to the press then he could have saved himself some time.
“Cllr Cox cannot point to a single decision that has been made that would have been made differently if I had been able to attend any meeting that I have been unable to make since the election.
“Meanwhile, I am the only person who can be the voice of our area in Westminster and to support the new government which is working hard to fix the foundations of our country after 14 years of Conservative chaos and the £22billion black hole that his government left in the public finances.
“He knows that I am continuing to do the day-to-day job of representing the people of Curborough as both a district councillor and as their Member of Parliament.”
I had no idea that one could be a local councillor and a member of parliament at the same time.
He says he is continuing to do the job of representing us in Westminster. Well, perhaps he could start by replying to letters. I wrote to him in August and am still waiting for a reply. I know many other people are in the same boat.
Tory bitterness they thought whatever they did or didn’t do fabricant would never loose
You would imagine in the same way Marco Longhi and Eddie Hughes remained as councillors for the Conservatives when they were elected as MPs. If Dave Roberton has not attended for 6 months do processes not exist to force him to stand down?
Maybe the Conservatives don’t want to force bye election yet with Reform growing in support and the leisure centre in the early stages for good or for bad?
Once again, fixing the black hole that wasn’t there under the last government.
I cannot see how an MP can properly fulfill the role of being an MP and simultaneously be an effective local or county councillor. Trying to do both can only lead to ineffective performance in at least one of those roles.
The rest of the country has had a raft of local/county council elections as a result of councillors becoming MP’s after 4th July.
Regarding being an MP and still a local councillor, I recently wrote to a Staffordshire County Council member and copied in our MP and a number of other SCC and LDC councillors only to find that several (Tories in this case) were on both Councils. Does that not also entail a conflict of interests? The same goes for members of both Town/City and District Councils. If you have a problem/complaint that might be relevant to two or three Councils (or your MP), it’s not great to find you are dealing with the same person wearing different hats. I don’t think our MP or any other councillors should be holding down two jobs in this way.
Dave Robertson on my street last Sunday afternoon, in the rain, knocking on doors and engaging with his constituents. He spent 10 minutes engaging with a single resident. This is a typically shabby attempt from Councillor Cox to smear a man who genuinely cares about his community.
In the whole 24 year period Mr Fabricant was an MP for Lichfield he conducted barely any in person engagement (and ceased surgeries) and his attendance at council meetings was appalling.
Councillor Cox appears to be afflicted with a severe case of selective memory.
Double Jobbing needs to end.
”Nice guy” Dave seems to be somewhat out of his depth and Lichfield constituents are paying the price. Preaching his master’s mantra of fixing the foundations, Conservative chaos and £22 billion black hole is lazy and one the public are quickly getting tired of hearing of. It’s nearly 6 month’s since the General Election yet Robertson, like his Government are still regurgitating the same rhetoric of a party in opposition.
Perhaps Robbie Chapman can explain the difference between “Preaching his master’s mantra” and spouting vacuous three-word slogans
When Labour politicians repeat the mantra as dictated by their Whips, such as the “£22 billon black hole” (we know the OBR has cast severe doubts on this figure), they should also remember to remind us they left a £158 billion deficit in 2010 when they left Government last time – remember the infamous note about no money being left. Also the Labour MP should also note that there was a £40 billion tax hike in the budget, since which growth has stagnated, employment rates have crashed as employers try to mitigate the National Insurance and Living Wage hikes.
I am sure on his walkaround in the rain he was explaining why his party hate pensioners, taking away the Winter Fuel allowance, and making their children pay tax on their parents pension pots that are left over when they die – these being taxed in the first place; and only this week, after years of decrying the previous Government for an injustice decided the Wispi pensioners were getting nothing.