Some members of the conservative party are really nice people and an example of that which is good.

I think that it bears pointing out that while some conservatives (who shall this time remain nameless) are an example of all that is wrong with our district council they are some councillors who are actually decent folks, good councillors and an example of the type of person of whom we could do with more.

Yesterday I wrote about an (ex) Conservative who seemed to have a chip on his shoulder and was giving his party's name a further blackening (in my opinion obviously).

Peter Checksfield pointed out that while he worked as a doorman it was the Conservatives that were the most polite to him. This has prompted me to write this short post to say that, yes, I need to say that there are some really decent Tory's out there. Mr and Mrs Gale with whom I do not see eye-to-eye politically have been dead helpful and taken the time to help me on a number of occasions. There are a number of other conservatives who I shall not embarrass but are deserving of plenty of praise too.

Our District Council here in Thanet has recently changed leadership from Conservative who have held the reigns longer than I have been blogging about the area to Labour who have long contested that they can do a better job.

In this article I will take an in depth look at the implications of the changes and what it might mean to long standing concerns, power and council attitude.

Certainly no one was willing to say that they thought that Labour had a chance of taking control of the council. The straw poll I took on the Thanet Star Facebook page suggested that most people saw the winners as the Independents which in a way was true.

The Most Powerful Men in Thanet

If you hold true that men on our (Thanet) District Council hold any true power (as to, say, certain, shall we say, business men) then it would be safe to say that the most powerful men in Thanet may have changed.

Actually this is not true. The most powerful men in Thanet have simply let their strength be known. These men are of course Cllr John Worrow and Cllr Jack Cohen whose vote from among the Independents on our council first placed Cllr Bob Bayford in power and then removed him.

Cllr Bob Bayford for all that Cllr Clive Hart says about him being exceptionally well respected missed the truth of his leadership. A leadership which in truth had always been in the hands of the independent councillors. I am not sure exactly what the Conservatives have done, if anything, to loose favour with the Thanet King Makers but loose it they have.

Of course this might simply be a very astute move from the Independents to be sure that their power is respected. It was assumed that they would side with Labour for a change of leadership and yet they struck a deal to vote for Cllr Bob Bayford after the elections. One might argue that this was simply to let the Labour members know who was in charge when, as has happened, a change of leadership took place.

I am not saying that Cllr John Worrow and Cllr Jack Cohen were party to such tactical voting but I am not saying that they were not. What is clear is that Cllr Clive Hart's grip on power is subject to the opinion of two men who represent two thirds of the power in the Birchington South Ward.

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» Continue Reading: The changes in Council leadership: What do they mean for us?