Thurrock Council leader Terry Hipsey quits to join Labour (From Echo)
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Thurrock Council leader Terry Hipsey quits to join Labour
9:10am Thursday 26th March 2009 in
THE Tory leader of Thurrock Council has resigned and joined the Labour party.
Councillor Terry Hipsey told a stunned full council meeting that he was resigning as leader of the Conservatives and joining the opposition.
The meeting was immediately adjourned, while discussions about a new leader were held.
In a statement Labour’s newest councillor said: “I have resigned as leader of Thurrock Council, and have left the Conservative party to become a Labour councillor. This last week has shown some of the worst examples of David Cameron’s attempt to respond to the recession.
“I’ve spent the last two-and-a-half years trying to keep this dysfunctional Tory group together. Having some time to reflect, it has become clear this group and the Conservative Party are incapable of making the changes necessary to take Thurrock forward.
“I’ve been increasingly impressed with the group of Labour councillors locally and the Labour government’s response to the recession nationally.
“I look forward to working closely with our local Labour MPs, Andrew Mackinlay and Angela Smith. They, like me, care deeply about giving Thurrock families the help that they need during this global recession.”
In a press conference last week Mr Hipsey said he had no intention of quitting and rumours that he was being forced out by Conservative central office were unfounded.
He hit out at the borough’s Labour group, which was proposing to put forward a motion calling for his resignation.
Comments(44)
Ian Gilbert
says...
9:28pm Wed 25 Mar 09
Morris Hickey
says...
11:16pm Wed 25 Mar 09
Happy Hammer
says...
11:21pm Wed 25 Mar 09
littlemiss134
says...
11:24pm Wed 25 Mar 09
Don South
says...
11:31pm Wed 25 Mar 09
If you have an ounce of decency - do the honourable thing and resign and fight as a Labour candidate in a bye-election.
Mr A Political
says...
11:46pm Wed 25 Mar 09
The only honourable thing for Cllr Hipsey to do is step down as a councillor for Stanford le Hope and for a by-election to be held. The people of Stanford voted for a Conservative representative and should have the option to decide if they wish to be represented now by a Labour Councillor and not have it foisted upon them. It is only right and proper that the electors should be consulted; I do not suggest this because I am a Tory supporter but because a by-election should be called when ever a Cllr crosses the floor.
Ian Gilbert
says...
11:54pm Wed 25 Mar 09
Don South wrote:Every party always says that when someone defects away from them, but never say it when someone defects to them. It's one of the less attractive things about politics.
People elected a Tory. If you have an ounce of decency - do the honourable thing and resign and fight as a Labour candidate in a bye-election.
Rightly or wrongly, under our system it is clear that you are electing the person, not the party.
Eddie
says...
8:13am Thu 26 Mar 09
logician
says...
8:48am Thu 26 Mar 09
pa
says...
9:44am Thu 26 Mar 09
P.Saunders
says...
9:49am Thu 26 Mar 09
It now remains to be seen whether the Conservative group on Thurrock council will make common-cause with the solitary BNP councillor in an effort to shore up their manifestly flagging fortunes.
Julian Ware-Lane
says...
9:54am Thu 26 Mar 09
Winston Churchill changed parties twice during his career.
Don South
says...
11:07am Thu 26 Mar 09
Julian Ware-Lane wrote:But what has happened hear would be like Winston Churchill joining Adolf Hitler in his bunker in Berlin!
Eddie Winston Churchill changed parties twice during his career.
Lee Hammer
says...
11:49am Thu 26 Mar 09
We just lurch from loony left to rabid right with nothing in the middle.
Hipsey is obviously full of bull to claim he's leapt that chasm and if I was Labour I wouldn't touch him.
The Tories meanwhile have now formally joined with the BNP. It is just humiliating and shameful to have these freaks in the town hall.
I hope Cameron steps in and tells Hague how it is in the real world -or we can kiss goodbye to any external economic investment from anywhere.
This will set us back years.
The Contrarian
says...
12:36pm Thu 26 Mar 09
Still, I wouldn't selct him. He loses all credibility when he said: "I’ve been increasingly impressed with the group of Labour councillors locally and the Labour government’s response to the recession nationally."
It seems to me that this guy is so out of step with everyone else that we (as a borough) will be better off with somebody else at the helm.
Maxine T
says...
2:58pm Thu 26 Mar 09
The Contrarian
says...
4:30pm Thu 26 Mar 09
I think we all know that the vast majority of council workers are Labour supproters anyway. Just look at how the public payroll has increased. That's been done to buy votes!
Lastly, I couldn't agree more with Mr. Hammer.
diggerdave
says...
4:46pm Thu 26 Mar 09
Dave G
says...
5:23pm Thu 26 Mar 09
The Contrarian wrote:Since it's the Conservatives who control Thurrock, they decide how many staff to employ. Are they buying votes?
Slightly off-topic I know, but since when was it acceptable for any council employee to have coloured streaks (of any non-natural colour) in their hair?
I think we all know that the vast majority of council workers are Labour supproters anyway. Just look at how the public payroll has increased. That's been done to buy votes!
Lastly, I couldn't agree more with Mr. Hammer.
Ex
says...
7:48pm Thu 26 Mar 09
Maxine T wrote:As another ex officer, bet you are trapped in Thurrock by rapidly falling flat prices just as I am, otherwise I would have gone long since - and I am a Tory as it happens ! its Hipsey who has never been one in any true blue sense of that word. Well done Labour,Hipsey obviously believes he can't beat them,so must join them. What a coward he is not to admit he has lead Thurrock nowhere but backwards and quit. This way he adds loss of face to his loss stars for Thurrock Council.
Hilarious to learn Hipsey has crossed the floor, considering his insistence once that (when I was working for TDC) a pink streak in my hair was actually red, and that it indicated support for the Labour group (officers aren't allowed to show any political bias or favour. Is he still colour blind? Was he actually looking for some Lib Dems to join but got his colours wrong again? Three cheers to Labour for bringing Hipsey to their heel, perhaps they can stop him barking up wrong trees too! From a non-political, Thurrock home owner given early retirement to 'go away' - like so many others.
OckendonPaul
says...
9:33pm Thu 26 Mar 09
So the BNP effectively hold the balance of power on Thurrock council. That should have a few of you choking on your cornflakes!
logician
says...
10:28pm Thu 26 Mar 09
"I’ve spent the last two-and-a-half years trying to keep this dysfunctional Tory group together."
Why didn't Tel step down and let someone else have a go?
Quote #2
"I’ve been increasingly impressed with the group of Labour councillors locally and the Labour government’s response to the recession nationally."
So that's what he got up to on his honeymoon!
Thomas Johns
says...
8:51am Fri 27 Mar 09
The Contrarian
says...
9:19am Fri 27 Mar 09
Dave G wrote:Certainly they wouldn't be if the overall number shrank. If anything, they'd be punished for that at the ballot box. Let's not forget either that the vast vast majority of public sector workers are likely to be left leaning and most certainly likely to be members of a union and therefore supporting Labour through their contributions. I shouldn't think that too many of them opt out of paying the political levy. They know where their bread's buttered.
The Contrarian wrote: Slightly off-topic I know, but since when was it acceptable for any council employee to have coloured streaks (of any non-natural colour) in their hair? I think we all know that the vast majority of council workers are Labour supproters anyway. Just look at how the public payroll has increased. That's been done to buy votes! Lastly, I couldn't agree more with Mr. Hammer.Since it's the Conservatives who control Thurrock, they decide how many staff to employ. Are they buying votes?
rogwj
says...
11:05am Fri 27 Mar 09
Don South
says...
11:18am Fri 27 Mar 09
Don South
says...
11:48am Fri 27 Mar 09
The Contrarian
says...
1:27pm Fri 27 Mar 09
Maxine T
says...
2:07pm Fri 27 Mar 09
The best possible Chief Exec for Thurrock would have been Keith Ireland who genuinely cared about its residents and its future. Since things need to get DONE and fast, perhaps those of us who genuinely care about Thurrock should stand as Independent Councillors. It is certainly being considered by me. How about calling it the Common Sense and No Egos Party?
Blessed
says...
3:52pm Fri 27 Mar 09
I couldn't agree more. I also worked as an officer with the former Leader who was quite frankly vile! It has restored my faith in karma as finally the truth is revealed and the strength of character shown. Mine and others lives were made a misery and I should image that we will all have a drink tonight. It is however a shame for the other Cllr's who work very hard for the right reasons.
The Contrarian
says...
4:59pm Fri 27 Mar 09
Maxine T wrote:Why shouldn't corporate rules apply. Afterall, the council should be run in a professional way. I've been to the civic offices before and some of the staff are an absolute disgrace. Now it shouldn't be necessary to mande dress codes; however, the fact that many public servents feel they can come to work dressed as if they're off to a festival or concert is just indicative of a lack of profesionalism.
Futher to a comment from another ex-officer regarding the price of flats, yes indeed the flat I bought is worth considerably less. If I had known I would be working under the 'leadership' of Hipsey/Ridgwell I wouldn't have joined in the first place and certainly wouldn't have invested money in a home there. BUT I remain convinced that Thurrock is a great place and don't regret my home in Grays for a second. As for hair colour, what muppet would imagine 'corporate rules' would, could or should apply? Oops, that would be Hipsey again then! :) The best possible Chief Exec for Thurrock would have been Keith Ireland who genuinely cared about its residents and its future. Since things need to get DONE and fast, perhaps those of us who genuinely care about Thurrock should stand as Independent Councillors. It is certainly being considered by me. How about calling it the Common Sense and No Egos Party?
Also, as soon as you set up a party, it's members cease to independent in the true sense of the word.
A THURROCK PATRIOT
says...
8:06pm Sat 28 Mar 09
This man has let down his constituents and electorate, the labour party had a motion of no confidence in him yet they two facedly welcomed him with open arms,he having slagged the labour off most of his political life joins them on a whim after fibbing last week saying he was not going to quit,and the pay has nothing to do with it, what rubbish, its shows just what a two faces noses in the tax trough these councillors are and all should be voted out and most of you are making it a joke even supporting them.
Its peoples lives these twats are messing with and you all should be ashamed of yourselves.
Emma colgate is the only one here trying to do what's right by thurrock and honestly picked the best of a very bad bunch, you all should respect her for her honesty.
diggerdave
says...
11:43am Sun 29 Mar 09
But as someone else said gives you one more reason not to vote Labour this year
A THURROCK PATRIOT
says...
5:35pm Sun 29 Mar 09
diggerdave wrote:Dave my point is that if someone took the pi55 like this in a pub most people would be livid and wanting to give him a righthander, yet when it comes to politicians its treated as a joke and in a very manner of fact way.
Thurrock Patriot I think you must have missed my earlier post outlining the same points minus the BNP plug. I am shocked to see he hasn't resigned as a councillor and tried to get voted in again now he has shown his true colours.Well the colours he has until someone else disagrees with him, launches a new policy he likes, lures him away with a free lunch or whatever reason he changed sides. But as someone else said gives you one more reason not to vote Labour this year
This is about people and their families and the quality of their lives and environment and should be seen as such and taken much more seriously, yet the same lot are complaining about councillors who are useless but these same people keep voting them back in.
A THURROCK PATRIOT
says...
5:47pm Sun 29 Mar 09
RADICAL Muslim Anjem Choudary has brushed aside a Scotland Yard probe into his inflammatory speeches to demand that Britain should become a Sharia state.
His voice rising with passion and vigour, he told his growing army of followers in central London on Friday night: “Let me tell you something – the Sharia will be implemented in Pakistan, it will be implemented in India and Bangladesh and even down the road in Downing Street.”
Voting blind these councillors and mps of all the main parties without taking it seriously will eventual lead to collapse of the country , and most people on this story will be winging how it all happened and looking for others to blame but eventually will realise its themselves to blame but will be able to move away and leave most of the rest of us in the 5h*t.
http://www.dailyexpr
ess.co.uk/posts/view
/91891/Hate-preacher
-I-want-Sharia-law-i
n-Britain
Don South
says...
6:19pm Mon 30 Mar 09
A THURROCK PATRIOT wrote:WTF?
This is what happens in this country when its not taken seriously. RADICAL Muslim Anjem Choudary has brushed aside a Scotland Yard probe into his inflammatory speeches to demand that Britain should become a Sharia state. His voice rising with passion and ­vigour, he told his growing army of followers in central London on Friday night: “Let me tell you something – the Sharia will be implemented in Pakistan, it will be implemented in India and Bangladesh and even down the road in Downing Street.” Voting blind these councillors and mps of all the main parties without taking it seriously will eventual lead to collapse of the country , and most people on this story will be winging how it all happened and looking for others to blame but eventually will realise its themselves to blame but will be able to move away and leave most of the rest of us in the 5h*t. http://www.dailyexpr ess.co.uk/posts/view /91891/Hate-preacher -I-want-Sharia-law-i n-Britain
What has this got to do with Hipsey resigning and crossing the floor???
JoeJohn
says...
11:32am Tue 31 Mar 09
In a word - sod all! Thats why I cant take seriously CERTAIN posters who continuously praise and support the BNP.
We are trying to have an intelligent and articulate debate regarding Hipsey and his lack of backbone, morals etc. and people take every opportunity to take the thread somewhere else. I'm well aware of the feeling on here by a small number of people who support the BNP, but SOME do themselves no favours with their blatant inability to listen to what people are saying. It is ironic as they are similar to the fanaticals they are continually criticising - the only thing seperating them is the party they support!
This isnt about radical preachers (who, btw I DONT agree with before you shout me down).
I was at the meeting last week, and to say it was shocking would be an understatement. Hipsey has portrayed himself to be weak, with no principles and I cannot imagine there would be any sane person who would vote for him at the next elections.
He is spineless and I have absolutely no trust in him or his party.
Mr Perfect
says...
12:01pm Tue 31 Mar 09
Do away with councils run by polititians, and put proper buisiness people in charge.
Are not most polititians spineless and untrustworthy.
I have personal evidence of this with a Conservative councillor, breaking promisses.
The Contrarian
says...
1:51pm Tue 31 Mar 09
A THURROCK PATRIOT
says...
6:40pm Tue 31 Mar 09
Don South wrote:Well Don you do really take the biscuit.
A THURROCK PATRIOT wrote: This is what happens in this country when its not taken seriously. RADICAL Muslim Anjem Choudary has brushed aside a Scotland Yard probe into his inflammatory speeches to demand that Britain should become a Sharia state. His voice rising with passion and ­vigour, he told his growing army of followers in central London on Friday night: “Let me tell you something – the Sharia will be implemented in Pakistan, it will be implemented in India and Bangladesh and even down the road in Downing Street.” Voting blind these councillors and mps of all the main parties without taking it seriously will eventual lead to collapse of the country , and most people on this story will be winging how it all happened and looking for others to blame but eventually will realise its themselves to blame but will be able to move away and leave most of the rest of us in the 5h*t. http://www.dailyexpr ess.co.uk/posts/view /91891/Hate-preacher -I-want-Sharia-law-i n-BritainWTF? What has this got to do with Hipsey resigning and crossing the floor???
What its got to do with Mr Hipsey crossing the floor in the manner it was conducted is the integrity of our twofaced councillors and mps and their blatant contempt for the electorate who are not in it for the bettering of our nation allowing RADICAL Muslims like Anjem Choudary among others in the back door making our cities unsafe and jeopardising our children's futures.
But you could not make that connection, you would not vote a NASTY BNP politician who wants to make the streets safe, to give pensioners the drugs they deserve, no you would rather play the silly party politics game and vote for all them wonderful mps with great integrity shafting you of your taxes in expenses while they watch **** films that you paid for.
A THURROCK PATRIOT
says...
7:27pm Tue 31 Mar 09
JoeJohn wrote:Its because you don't take things as seriously as you should is why the country is in such a mess, articulate debate don't correct the problems , honest solutions correct the problems, truthful commonsense honest debate will correct the problems, but first you have to be honest to yourself, the councillors you have voted for are useless and intelligence tells me that they are not working for my community , you are in denial to what's really going on.
Don, In a word - sod all! Thats why I cant take seriously CERTAIN posters who continuously praise and support the BNP. We are trying to have an intelligent and articulate debate regarding Hipsey and his lack of backbone, morals etc. and people take every opportunity to take the thread somewhere else. I'm well aware of the feeling on here by a small number of people who support the BNP, but SOME do themselves no favours with their blatant inability to listen to what people are saying. It is ironic as they are similar to the fanaticals they are continually criticising - the only thing seperating them is the party they support! This isnt about radical preachers (who, btw I DONT agree with before you shout me down). I was at the meeting last week, and to say it was shocking would be an understatement. Hipsey has portrayed himself to be weak, with no principles and I cannot imagine there would be any sane person who would vote for him at the next elections. He is spineless and I have absolutely no trust in him or his party.
When i was associated with the labour party i was never called fanatical, and the mention of the radical preacher is to show an example of the result of crap councillors and mps are letting creep in the back door, who you going to blame when it all goes south? the bnp.
I will give you another example of what your denial, and these councillors and mps are allowing to fester, 2008:Shahid Malik muslim labour MP video is from the Global Peace and Unity conference in London in October, 2008,“I am confident, as Britain’s first Muslim minister, that, insh’Allah, in the next thirty years or so, we’ll see a Prime Minister who happens to share my faith.” this is why its all connected, politicians like Mr Hipsey are allowing this to progress under your noses and your caught up in you own prejudices to see it, maybe you are like don and are ok with our mps shafting you in their expenses, maybe you don't mind paying for their **** collection, I love my country and I take it a lot more seriously, I would rather pay for cancer drugs for people than mps **** films and councillors expenses.
http://brianakira.wo
rdpress.com/2009/03/
19/labour-mp-shahid-
malik-boasts-that-uk
-parliament-will-be-
100-percent-muslim/
Lee Hammer
says...
10:11am Wed 1 Apr 09
Which of us want any radicals and extremists nagging us?
There's no difference between radical muslims and the BNP either. Neither listen to anybody, both use violence, aggression and intimidation, both use the word "truth" about their opinions although what they say clearly isn't true.
This guy "patriot" is a joke. What's patriotic about whining about your country or discriminating against people? I love my country- the way it is today- and muppets who believe Daily Express propaganda are as a big threat to our country and our traditional values as any radical religious person.
rogwj
says...
1:37pm Wed 1 Apr 09
My wife and I had lived in Grays or elsewhere in Thurrock for the majority of the years since the mid 1940s, and we feel that we put a lot into the local community by way of voluntary service for over 30 of those years. This was without becoming local politicians, although one of us was asked if we would consider standing for election. We consider ourselves to be well educated and are proud to be English.
However, we had seen Thurrock, particularly Grays, go downhill fast over the past few years, and in anticipation of the dismal prospect of retirement in the borough, and following a unsettling encounter in Grays High Street with some eastern Europeans in broad daylight on a Saturday while shopping, and on another occasion being shoved off the pavement by a group of Afro-Caribbean yobs, my wife and I decided that ‘enough is enough’ and it was time to move out of the total shitehole that Grays (and with it most of Thurrock) has become.
While we know that if there were a BNP council (if only!) in Thurrock, even that could not easily prevent the downward slide (that in large measure is determined elsewhere), but we might haveb at least felt that we were not in a minority in our own country.
Alas, following 9/11 and the London bombings, and terrorist atrocities elsewhere, we genuinely believed that anyone who “looks like a Muslim” is a potential threat. We still think that, and even government pronouncements now emphasise the measure of the threat.
While out and about, we were not prepared to continue to feel ‘unsafe’ or keep looking over our shoulders to see if the person walking behind is about to mug us, and so we moved permanently over two years ago to our holiday home in rural Ireland. I can hear you already – ‘Lucky you’ etc., but it is something that we worked for and it cost us a lot of hard-earned money. It was a move we wish we had made a few years earlier when there were the first signs of Grays (and Thurrock) going downhill.
On our occasional visits to the closest towns here, we rarely see anything that even remotely makes us feel ‘unsafe’, and we often see police officers in the towns either on foot or in cars. But apart from that, there is no council tax, very good local services, good food, a far better quality of life, and other benefits (not the state-sponsored kind, either), and all this together with the friendliest people we have encountered anywhere.
In Thurrock, alas, many of those on the council who promote multiculturalism do so to pick up votes; I know some of them, and know that their views are certainly more right-wing than they would have you believe.
Terry Hipsey personally is not responsible for the problems in Thurrock, and nor are most other councillors. What is responsible is successive national governments that are not prepared to act before the UK is overrun, and this is thanks to the PC brigade, human rights, and all of the other crap that we hear about.
We have been asked if we would consider coming back to England to live, and we say that, first, if we did, it certainly would not be Thurrock, and, second, it would only be if there is a very big change in government. We are too close to our ‘three score years and ten’ for anything major will happen in our lifetime, so we are resigned to seeing out our time in another 'green and pleasant land'.
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Bill Richards says...
8:56pm Wed 25 Mar 09