There has been a bit of trouble brewing about the recent re-election of Cllr Robert Finnegan to Morley North. There is a school of opinion on Facebook (Morley Folk & those from surrounding areas) that he probably wasn’t entitled to stand as a Councillor because he didn’t actually live, work or own property in Leeds during the qualifying period. He appears to live in Batley (in Kirklees, not Leeds), although he gave the address of another Councillor to be printed on the ballots; He appeared to work until recently in Cleckheaton Town Hall (again in Kirklees) although he declared that he worked in Morley as his qualifying condition.

Now Robert is a good Councillor, he works hard and is committed to the job, although his politics are way too statist for my liking (as are all of the Lib-Lab-Cons). So should we be bothered? Well yes, we should, because if he wasn’t entitled to stand and tried to get round it he is pulling the wool over people’s eyes and therefore no longer honourable. If it was an honest mistake, he should own up, although it would be human nature for him to spin it out somewhat for three weeks, after which point he can no longer be challenged in an election court. If he suddenly realised (say) six months ago that he thought he was entitled to stand and then suddenly found out he wasn’t, the noble thing would have been to hold his hands up and wait for the next round of elections (now two years away) whilst proposing another MBI colleague to stand.

This is my latest contribution to the Facebook discussion.

The only people able to disqualify a Councillor are an election court (the Petition route)- or the standards Board for England. The Standards Board won’t be interested- unless the Councillor gets prosecuted.

However, the Police will investigate accusations of corrupt or illegal practice related to elections and the penalties are severe.

It boils down to:

What did Cllr Finnigan put on the form in answer to this?

*c. my principal or only place of work during those 12 months has been in that
*county/district/London borough/county borough at (give address of place of work and, where
appropriate, name of employer):

Bearing in mind that he worked for Kirklees for 22 years until earlier in the year according to the local paper, perhaps he thinks that being a full time councillor is a job in itself and he has access to a Tardis. Sorry, that won’t wash, being a Councillor is a member of a club, not a paid employment. There are allowances but there is no employment protection!

The Representation of the People Act 1983 was amended in 2006 by the Electoral Administration Act to categorise knowingly giving false information as a corrupt practice.

“(1A) A person is guilty of a corrupt practice if, in the case of any relevant
election, he makes in any document in which he gives his consent to his
nomination as a candidate—
(a) a statement of his date of birth,
(b) a statement as to his qualification for being elected at that
election, or
(c) a statement that he is not a candidate at an election for any other
constituency the poll for which is to be held on the same day as
the poll at the election to which the consent relates,
which he knows to be false in any particular.
(1B) For the purposes of subsection (1A), a statement as to a candidate’s
qualification is a statement—
(a) that he is qualified for being elected,
(b) that he will be qualified for being elected, or
(c) that to the best of his knowledge and belief he is not disqualified
for being elected.”

On this basis, it is perfectly reasonable for someone to report it to the police who you would expect would be obliged to investigate the allegations that section 65A RPA 1983 have been contravened. So the petition is in fact a red herring, he could still be prosecuted, large fines, even chokey.

Ironically, this was apparently made a corrupt practice based on the actions of BNP Councillors claiming falsely that they lived in Wards when they didn’t.

In today’s Obtiser Finnegan suggests that BNP Councillor Beverley resigns after running a dirty campaign. This strikes me as the pot calling the kettle black…

Of course, if Cllr Finnigan is able to assure me (& the Facebook doubters) that there is no fire behind this smoke, then I will happily publish his comments (or paraphrase it). However, if it looks, walks and quacks like a duck then it isn’t a swan…

It was Robert himself who told me the following joke:

Q: How can you tell when a politician is lying?

A: You can see his lips move!