Tag: Green Party

Expense claim forms for Councillor Brian Kenny (Wirral Council) 2013 to 2014

Expense claim forms for Councillor Brian Kenny (Wirral Council) 2013 to 2014

Expense claim forms for Councillor Brian Kenny (Wirral Council) 2013 to 2014

                               

Writing this, I had better declare that many years ago in Liverpool Councillor Brian Kenny gave us both a gift of a red plastic post box in I think in 2010 (it’s only a few inches high) as part of the lobbying that the Communication Workers Union were doing at the time of people like myself and Leonora. Although this falls into the trivial category, journalism ethics means I’d better state that at the start as I don’t want people thinking I’m being too kind or not objective enough to former Councillor Brian Kenny because of something he gave us four years ago. I will point out that gift was completely unconnected to my work as a journalist. However this is probably more openness and accountability than you will get from most politicians (who were recently told at a Planning Committee meeting about Tranmere Rovers that they only had to declare gifts received in the last twelve months)!

When I picked up the expenses claim forms to scan in for former Councillor Brian Kenny, at first I thought I must have picked up a batch which was for more than one councillor as compared to other councillors there seemed a lot of it. I know he was the Cabinet Member for the Environment, but his expenses claim forms go on and on and on and on and on like the waves crashing against the shore on the Wirral coastline.

As probably readers of this blog are already aware, former Councillor Brian Kenny lost his seat in Birkenhead and Tranmere in the May 2014 elections to the Green Party’s Councillor Pat Cleary.

I have only seen Brian Kenny twice since the elections. Once was at the meeting where Councillor Steve Foulkes became Mayor of Wirral in June, the other time was when I was at the Birkenhead County Court offices when I was requesting copies of court records on Wirral Council’s possession order (granted in February 2014 effective from February 2015) for Fernbank Farm. Before I start getting diverted into interesting anecdotes about a former councillor I had better show you first the expenses forms.

Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 1
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 1
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 2
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 2
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 3
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 3
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 4
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 4
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 5
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 5
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 6
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 6
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 7
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 7
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 8
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 8
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 9
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 9
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 10
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 10
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 11
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 11
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 12
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 12
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 13
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 13
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 14
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 14
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 15
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 15
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 16
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 16
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 17
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 17
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 18
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 18
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 19
Cllr Brian Kenny expenses claim 2013 2014 page 19

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Who are the 83 candidates in the 2014 election for 8 Members of the European Parliament for North West England?

Who are the 83 candidates in the 2014 election for 8 Members of the European Parliament for North West England?

Who are the 83 candidates in the 2014 election for 8 Members of the European Parliament for North West England?

                         

My polling card for the 2014 election (North West Region)
My polling card for the 2014 election for Members of the European Parliament (North West Region)

The voting system at the European elections is different to the local elections. In the European elections eleven political parties (An Independence from Europe, British National Party, Conservative Party, English Democrats, Green Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, No2EU, Pirate Party UK, Socialist Equality Party and UK Independence Party (UKIP)) have each nominated a list of candidates. Each political party has put forward a list of eight candidates apart from the Pirate Party UK which has only put forward three.

People vote for a political party and once the polls close the total votes for each party are added up. The party with the highest number of votes is given the first Member of the European Parliament seat. You can read an explanation of how the voting system decides on who gets the other seven seats here. The voting system is a proportional representation system. This means the seats for Members of the European Parliament depend on what each party’s share of the vote is.

The list of candidates and their home addresses can be downloaded from this blog. The table below is of each political party and the candidates that party is putting forward in the European elections. If a political party wins a seat (or more than one seat) in the election then the first candidate for that political party is given the first seat, second the second etc. Some political parties also have descriptions on the ballot paper. Any descriptions used are included in the table below the name of the political party.

Political Party & Description Party List of Candidates
An Independence from Europe
  1. Helen Bashford
  2. Gill Kearney
  3. Pauline Penny
  4. Kay Bashford
  5. Faye Raw
  6. Lorna Markovitch
  7. Jennie Ransome
  8. Jill Stockdale

British National Party

Re-elect Nick Griffin
  1. Nick Griffin
  2. Dawn Charlton
  3. Clive Jefferson
  4. Eddy O’Sullivan
  5. Simon Darby
  6. Kay Pollitt
  7. Derek Adams
  8. David O’Loughlin

Conservative Party

For real change in Europe
  1. Jacqueline Foster
  2. Sajjad Karim
  3. Kevin Beaty
  4. Deborah Dunleavy
  5. Joseph Barker-Willis
  6. Daniel Hamilton
  7. Chris Whiteside
  8. James Walsh

English Democrats

Putting England First!
  1. Stephen Morris
  2. Paul Rimmer
  3. Derek Bullock
  4. Paul Whitelegg
  5. Steven McEllenborough
  6. Laurence Depares
  7. Valerie Morris
  8. Anthony Backhouse
Green Party
  1. Peter Andrew Cranie
  2. Gina Dowding
  3. Laura Bannister
  4. Jillian Barbara Perry
  5. John Anthony Knight
  6. Ulrike Zeshan
  7. Lewis Coyne
  8. Jake Laurence Welsh
Labour Party
  1. Theresa Griffin
  2. Afzal Khan
  3. Julie Ward
  4. Wajid Khan
  5. Angeliki Stogia
  6. Steve Carter
  7. Pascale Lamb
  8. Nick Parnell
Liberal Democrats
  1. Chris Davies
  2. Helen Foster-Grime
  3. Jo Crotty
  4. Qassim Afzal
  5. Jane Brophy
  6. Sue McGuire
  7. Gordon Lishman
  8. Neil Christian

NO2EU

Yes to Workers’ Rights
  1. Roger Bannister
  2. George Waterhouse
  3. Jacqueline Grunsell
  4. John Metcalfe
  5. George Tapp
  6. Mark Rowe
  7. James Healy
  8. Kevin Morrison

Pirate Party UK

The Pirate Party UK
  1. Maria Aretoulaki
  2. George Walkden
  3. Jack Allnutt

 

 

Socialist Equality Party

Join the fight for social equality!
  1. Chris Marsden
  2. Julie Hyland
  3. Robert Skelton
  4. Lucy Warren
  5. Mark Dowson
  6. Ajitha Gunaratne
  7. Danny Dickinson
  8. Joe Heffer
UK Independence Party (UKIP)
  1. Paul Andrew Nuttall
  2. Louise Bours
  3. Steven Marcus Woolfe
  4. Shneur Zalman Odze
  5. Lee William Slaughter
  6. Simon John Noble
  7. Peter Johnston Harper
  8. John Brian Stanyer

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4 Nomination Papers for Candidates in Upton By-election | Davies (LD), Gubb (Con), McGinley (Green) and Patrick (Lab)

4 Nomination Papers for Candidates in Upton By-election | Davies (LD), Gubb (Con), McGinley (Green) and Patrick (Lab)

4 Nomination Papers for Candidates in Upton By-election | Davies (LD), Gubb (Con), McGinley (Green) and Patrick (Lab)

                           

As readers of this blog will know I’m a great believer in openness and transparency. Elections are already pretty open and transparent processes with many of the major documents published as a matter of course throughout the election period. One of them that isn’t though is a candidate’s nomination papers. Each candidate in a local government election for a councillor has to fill out a nomination paper, get the signatures of ten electors in the ward they’re standing in, sign another piece of paper saying they agree to the nomination (including having this witnessed) and include with their nomination papers three pieces of legislation that detail reasons why a person could be disqualified from being a councillor (and sign a declaration to say they’re not disqualified).

During the election period from when the last date for nominations has passed to polling day any member of the public can ask to inspect the nomination papers (during working hours) and ask for copies. During this period I emailed Wirral Council’s Returning Officer Graham Burgess with such a request and ten days later (on polling day) received them. Each file has a copy of each candidate’s nomination papers, candidate’s consent to nomination and the various pieces of legislation that they’re required to include.

Oh and before anyone and asks if I’m related to the proposer and one of the assentors on the Lib Dem candidate’s papers as their surname is also Brace, I am. They’re my parents. The links to the nomination papers are listed alphabetically by surname. If you see anything crossed out and initialed by the candidate, the election office at Wirral Council will (if requested) check to see if the candidate has filled it out correctly and it’s a valid nomination. If they suggest a change, the candidate is usually asked to initial it to show it hasn’t been altered by anyone else. Candidates are also required to include their date of birth on the candidate’s consent to nomination as there’s a minimum age limit that a candidate can be.

Alan Davies (Liberal Democrat candidate)
Geoffrey Ian Gubb (Conservative Party candidate)
James Bernard McGinley (Green Party candidate)
Matthew John Patrick (Labour Party candidate) now Cllr Matthew Patrick

During the election campaign there are strict limits on what each candidate can spend on their campaign, included in the limit are amounts spent by third parties such as the political party that nominated them. The limit if memory serves me correctly is set at £600 + 5p per an elector and candidates (and their agents) have about a month after the election to submit a detailed election expenses claim of money spent and where it came from. I’m not sure how much interest there would be in how much each candidate spent and the source of their funds. Once an election expenses claim has been submitted they are open to public inspection at Wallasey Town Hall for up to two years, although if you want copies Wirral Council can charge. If you’d like me to write in the future about the election spending in the Upton by-election and the source of the funds for each candidate then please leave a comment.

The winning candidate is also required to also state the source of the funds for their election campaign in the Register of Interests which is published on Wirral Council’s website in answer to the question “The name of any person, other than a relevant authority, who has made a payment to you in respect of your election or any expenses incurred by you in carrying out your duties?”. If anyone reading knows what is meant by “relevant authority” please leave a comment as I presume it is meaning that councillors don’t have to include in answer to this question the allowances they get for being a councillor? I think councillors are allowed up to a month after their election to answer the questions in the register of interests as currently (on the 12th November) Cllr Patrick’s page on Wirral Council’s website has no link to a register of interests page.

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