Emma Colgate: the interview (From Echo)

Emma Colgate: the interview

NICE guys don’t make good leaders according to the BNP’s Emma Colgate.

The Gazette sat down with the Tilbury councillor, after an amazing council meeting, to find out why she put unelected Labour in power.

It was move that left both the public gallery and the Conservatives flabbergasted, and judging by the comments on the Gazette website, angered a lot of her supporters.

So why do it?

“In an ideal world it would be a choice between Labour, Conservatives, and the British National Party, but I didn't have that choice” she said.

“I found myself making lists of pros and cons, it came down to who had the least cons.

“While the Conservatives made some good decisions and some improvements in the borough, they are holding us back in quite a few ways.

“One of my concerns is we have an interim chief executive who is costing huge amounts and is not value for money.”

Was Garry Hague the problem in her eyes?

She said: “While Garry is a nice guy, nice guys don't make good leaders.

“I think he puts a lot of the work onto officers rather than taking it on himself, he is too keen to take what officers say rather than research it.”

The final nail in the Tory coffin for her, it seems, was when Garry Hague supported Interim Chief Executive Bob Comber’s proposal to create a deputy chief executive post.

She said: “This would have cost a lot of money and Garry's response was ‘he knows what he is talking about, we should trust him on this one’, that’s not the sort of leader I want.”

Would have voted differently had the Tories put up a new candidate?

“That would have been something I would have had to look into” she conceded.

So can Labour rely on Miss Colgate’s support from now on?

“I will not align myself to a particular party” she said.

“What I do support is change, what is ironic is that the Conservative's slogan has come back to bite them in the bum a bit.”

We asked her if she is worried Thurrock voted the Conservatives in but she has brought about a Labour administration.

She said: “People need to remember I am a ward councillor for Tilbury, I need to do what the residents of Tilbury want me to do.

“The support Labour got in Tilbury in the elections far outweighed what the Conservatives got.

“A lot of thought went into this, it wasn't just a hairbrained moment, but I'm never going to please everybody, its as simple as that.”

We asked her why she supported Labour on everything except its candidate for deputy mayor, cllr Yash Gupta.

She said: “I think it just shows that I do not vote on party lines I will not support a particular party, I will take everyone at their own merit.

“Eddie Hardiman is Mr nice guy, he has always been kind to me, and he really enjoys being deputy mayor.”