One of the unexpected Conservative triumphs in the May local elections was the west London borough of Ealing, converting an overall Labour majority of 26 into a Tory majority of five – and ending an unbroken, 12-year reign The result was a surprise for both the new leader, Jason Stacey, head of the Conservative group office at the LGA, and chief executive, Darra Singh, appointed in April last year by the Labour administration. Jason, opposition leader at Ealing for two years, recalls: ‘To get an outright majority was a surprise. We thought we might end up with NOC which, of course, would have been the worst outcome for Darra.’ And Darra adds: ‘I’d have put money on a reduced Labour majority. Closer to the election, it dawned on me there was a sea change occurring.’ Jason attributes his win to a combination of local streetscene issues, with almost half of a local poll of 1,000 residents saying the state of Ealing’s streets was their top priority, coupled with the Charles Clarke and John Prescott ministerial rows in Whitehall. There was also strong opposition to Transport for London’s plans for a tramway, supported by Labour. His own ward, in the low-to-middle income and ethnically-diverse suburb of Greenford, is filled with home-owners with modest incomes – just the target voters the Conservatives need to capture nationally. More than 10% of the Conservative group is from an ethnic minority, and two are aged under 25. Jason, 34, and Darra, 46, first met at last year’s LGA conference over a cuppa, some three months after Darra’s arrival, although Jason had been on the original interviewing panel for the post. They have Luton in common, where Darra was chief executive for four years before his move to Ealing, and where Jason was born and bred, the son of a plumber. After studying history at LSE and a Masters at Birkbeck in politics and administration, Jason worked for the National Audit Office, the local Tory MP, Harry Greenway, and the Association of Town Centre Management, before joining the Conservative group office at the LGA, where he has spent five years. He will be leaving the post next month to concentrate full-time on his leadership post at Ealing. Darra, too, is a high-profile figure in local government. Wolverhampton-born, he worked in housing and at the Audit Commission before joining Luton. Last week, he was asked by communities and local government minister, Ruth Kelly, to chair a new commission on integration and cohesion, which will report in June 2007. Recalling local election night, Jason says: ‘I left the town hall at 5.30am. To say I was elated was an understatement. I got to bed at eight, and then the phone started and never stopped. ‘I’d arranged to see Darra at noon, and we had a two-hour meeting. Although the election result was a surprise, we had a manifesto already drawn up. Our main discussion was over re-prioritising the budget and redirecting money back into environmental services and opposing the tramway.’ Indeed, last week, the council announced it was allocating £400,000 for the next year to create three graffiti squads and a fly-tipping crew and pledge to remove graffiti on council estates within 24 hours. The council has also withdrawn all support for the tramway project, restructured parking charges, and proposed an end to two bus lanes for causing congestion. Darra adds: ‘There was no vacuum. The group members were clear about what they wanted, and over the next few days, we hammered out how we could turn the manifesto into reality.’ Jason stresses that he was not in the business of turning the council upside down. Ealing had already undergone huge upheaval, including the departure of its previous chief executive and top management team, following the chaotic implementation of its ambitious service restructuring, Response, now completed. He says: ‘A change of administration is unsettling, and it’s natural enough for everyone, including the chief executive, to feel uncertain. I’m aiming for the slowly-but-surely approach. ‘I don’t want to reject what was before just for the sake of it. I want staff to feel secure and motivated. My inclination is to avoid large-scale internal reorganisation, since we’ve had so many previously.’ One advantage was that following the implosion of the previous SMT, the new corporate board executives were new, meeting only for the first time on 6 July last year. It meant they came without baggage or long-standing attachments to the Labour administration, and also made a point of establishing contacts with the Conservative opposition. Darra says: ‘We had a blank canvass to start engaging and in my second week, I even attended a shadow cabinet meeting.’ Soon after the May elections this year, the executive and cabinet spent an awayday together. Both insist that a good relationship also means they feel able to disagree. Jason says: ‘I have my own perspective, and Darra has his, but the important thing is to be decisive. ‘A chief executive should be able to disagree, but it’s dangerous if people think they can play one against the other.’ And Darra adds: ‘It’s a sign of a bad relationship if you agree with everything. The leader and chief executive are dependent on each other, and success is down to a mutual understanding of roles.’ n
