Paul Johnston

Bit of a brouhaha about this. Re-opened this morning by the Mayor. It's in his ward and he's standing for re-election next Thursday - but I wouldn't want to suggest that the timing and concomitant photo-shoot were in any way linked to that. Perish the thought!!

Nonetheless Surbiton councillors were advised by the Returning Officer to stay away from it because it might be contrued that ones seeking re-election were getting an unfair electoral advantage from the event and publicity. This problem could have been resolved simply enough by waiting for one week so that there was no clash. After all the date of the local election has been known for years. It's fixed by Law.

The local Ward councillors were apparently upset by the advice; one of them sent a long email explaining her concern that her opponents might now gain an advantage. Perhaps she had another reason. This morning a special FOCUS appeared in the ward in question headed

"CLAREMONT GARDENS

Re-opening of the water feature today at 10.45 a.m.

Your local Lib Dem councillors hope to see you (my emphasis) enjoying the re-opening............"

So much for the Returning Officer's advice - unless of course the councillors intended using binoculars to observe the enjoyment of their constituents.

By the way, there is a hosepipe ban in force so I do hope there's no water being lost by this 'feature'.