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I would make a terrible politician. Really, really bad. It's not something I often consider, but it occurred to me when someone asked if it was true the Local Government Association (LGA) Labour group was planning to suggest Sir Merrick Cockell stays on as chairman of the association – even if they took control at the May elections. On occasions, you have to let the truth get in the way of a good story and, unfortunately, this doesn't stand up as more than Chinese whispers and a throwaway comment from a senior politician. But, in truth, why would a politician put pragmatism ahead of politics and hand control to the opposition? So, assuming Labour does take the lead at the LGA from the Tories, what happens next? Under a Conservative-dominated Coalition Government, with a Conservative-led LGA, the sector has been slashed to the bone and publicly berated for everything from bin collections to parking fines. Let's not even mention carping over the existence of chief executives and their fat cat salaries. If this is how communities secretary Eric Pickles treats his own party, how will a Labour-led LGA fare? Will there be any top-slice cash left or can we just assume that will be scrapped? Quite frankly, if I were the Labour group, I'd be campaigning for the opposition in swing seats. I would be lobbying the Core Cities to carry out their threat to leave the association (so far Sheffield seems the only one certain to go) to avoid taking control. Which is why I would be such a poor politician. Instead, both groups are readying themselves for the changes ahead in a special meeting later this month. The Tories plan to review their rules on three-year fixed terms for their chairman and group-leader posts. Labour, on the other hand, plans to follow the Tory lead and consider whether to split the chairman and group-leader roles – presumably as two heads are better than one. It still begs the question, who will be the next chair of the LGA?

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Who will be the next chair of the LGA?

By Heather Jameson | 16 January 2014

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