Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Basildon Labour choses Lynda

Lynda Gordon is the new leader of the Labour group on Basildon Council. This is good news, and I had better explain why before she is removed by her colleagues for making me happy. Lynda is level-headed and a thoughtful speaker, who showed considerable poise during her stint as Chairman of the Council a few years ago. While I suspect that we are poles apart in political outlook, she does not strike me as the tribal Labour type who assumes that all Tories and their works are evil and that should make for a more constructive atmosphere at the Council, and a better standard of debate and scrutiny. While the narrow interests of the Conservative Party might have been served better if Labour had picked one of the more divisive candidates on offer, it would not have been better for the people of Basildon District if the second major party had been fronted by a foam-flecked ranter. So, while I wish her party a long stay in opposition, I also wish her good luck in her new role. She may also be the first woman party leader ever in Basildon's history, and that is worth noting as well.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

God how many Labour leaders do they need in Basildon? I remember when it was John Potter, then Nigel Smith, then Paul Kirkman, then Allan Davies, then Nigel Smith again and now Lynda Gordon?

Is anyone missing?

Steve Horgan said...

I think that you have them all. Lynda is actually the best of the lot, though that is not against particularly stiff competition.