Ealing Liberal Democrats have reacted angrily to figures published by the local Tory party on attendance by Councillors at Public Meetings. The Conservatives are claiming that their party has the best record for Councillors' attendance.

Cllr Andrew Mitchell, who was singled out by the Tories for criticism, launched a robust defence of his record. Whilst admitting that his job meant that he increasingly had to be abroad or out of London during the week he said this was no different to the pressures his constituents would face juggling family work and other commitments. He said, "I have continued to work hard for Southfield ward, running regular 'surgeries', working evenings and weekends on individual casework for my constituents and orchestrating major local campaigns to scrap the tram and successfully improving lighting, play facilities and other amenities in the Ward. I am also involved in a wide range of community activities here in the the ward."

Cllr. Mitchell was recently spotted refereeing the football tournament for youngsters at the Bedford Park Festival.

He did take a 3 month sabbatical in 2003 but with the full knowledge and agreement of the Chief Executive and accused local Tory leader Cllr. Jason Stacey of 're-hashing tired old spin to score cheap political points. The Tories claimed that the length of his absence came close to requiring that a by-election should be called, claims that were dismissed by Cllr. Mitchell. He pointed out that he has now been re-elected three times for his ward with an increased personal vote a success he put down to the 'pavement politics' of the Liberal Democrats in the area.

The Conservative figures show that their Councillors only missed on average 2.9 meetings during the 2004/5 Council year with the figure for the Liberal Democrats being 5.5. The Liberal Democrats claim that new data will show that their Councillors Ball, Malcolm and Rose have some of the best attendance records.

Cllr. Stacey said that in his view it was important for Councillors to keep the trust of voters by representing residents at the Town Hall. He said, �Very few of us can attend every meeting, and sometimes Council meetings clash. But we owe it to residents who elect us and pay our allowances to attend and fight for residents as much as we possibly can. To have councillors missing fifteen or sixteen meetings in a single year is totally unacceptable. Those individuals are plainly not doing what they were elected for and should not be not taking the place of people who are prepared to fight for residents.�

The Liberal Democrats claim that whenever they suggest reforms to Council to make it easier for 'real' people to get involved in local politics, the Tories are the first to resist changes to archaic procedures and inconvenient meeting times. They say that the Tories prefer politics to be the preserve of 'career politicians' and party activists.

June 14, 2005