Quote:
Originally Posted by Gayle
As for the subject of expenses and the amount that you get paid to be on the council.
As most people know, my politics rarely align themselves with the Conservatives but I would not begrudge the leader one penny for the amount of work that he puts in. Whether it's £35k or £60k that he gets for being leader of HBC, if he was the Chair of a large company he would get far more.
I know it's supposed to be a 'calling' and that councillors are only doing it for the good of the people but in my opinion, if you don't start making it attractive then you're never going to get a high calibre of councillors. If I'd have been elected I would have got the standard £4,800 as I think it was then but I would have had to lose a heck of a lot more in salary and work from other sources. Plus, they put in some long hours (well the good ones do), and they're constantly on call - I have heard of people who ring their local councillors at all hours.
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I have to agree with you on that Gayle. I think both parties struggle to find the right people (or any at all) to stand for Councillor. I also think you can't expect people to run the Council for nothing. I also wonder how someone who is working full time would be able to be Leader of the Council. If a Councillor is voted in as leader and they already have a job it is a big risk leaving that job to be the leader. Not an easy position to be in in my opinion.
Maybe Graham could advise us how he plans to manage work, home, kids and being the Leader of the Council if he ever finds himself in that position.
I think, but am often wrong, that Peter was part time before he retired/stopped working. I have no idea if he left work because of his Council duties but it would not surprise me.