Paul Johnston

  Daphne and self pictured at the recent wedding of Capt. Julian and Mrs. Kathleen Salusbury in Sussex, offered as proof of continued existence to those who thought we'd expired.

I have at long last finished with the 2006 local election. I advised the local party that the job of Borough Agent is too much for one person to take on, given that an awful lot of the work, around Election Expense Returns, is very complicated when dealing with 48 candidates and very time consuming in the weeks after the election itself. Candidates often imagine the thing is all over once the result is announced, especially ones who haven't stood before.

We had our first meeting of the new Scrutiny Panel last week. Prof. Stephen Leach came to talk us through the concept. This Panel is to scrutinize the Executive and hold it much more strongly to account than the old Overview Panels did. To this end it is supposed to have an Opposition majority. However Steve Mama, now Leader of the 2-strong Labour Group, was able to veto the suspension of proportionality and it remains to be seen whether the Lib Dems will honour the undertaking given by their Leader Derek Osbourne to Kevin Davis (and reciprocated by him) that whichever party formed the Administration would ensure that the principle of Opposition control of the Scrutiny Panel would be honoured in practice.