It's all a bit of a Bore
The botched attempt by Andy Howell to be selected as Labour candidate in Kingstanding sent shock waves through the party's Birmingham hierarchy who viewed the bid as the first stage in an attempt to end the eight-year reign of council group leader Sir Albert Bore.
That is the view of Hugh McCallion, a former deputy to Bore and now chairman of the Kingstanding branch Labour Party.
McCallion has revealed that a last-minute selection crisis for the May 1 council elections was driven by mounting frustration at Labour's failure to lay a glove on the city's ruling Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition and, in particular, Sir Albert's apparent distaste for the politics of opposition.
Cath Grundy, the retiring Labour councillor in Kingstanding, often talked of as a future Labour leader, said at first that she would not stand again. That gave Howell the chance to put his name forward, but the regional Labour Party refused to allow him to stand, which forced Grundy to change her mind and agree to defend her seat.
Since Grundy had already been selected, and with the minutes literally ticking away to the close of nominations, regional officials could do nothing to stop her standing. Regional support for Sir Albert remains totally unconditional and you can be sure that Grundy, having been implicated in a possible leadership attempt, would have been ditched if they could have got away with it, but they couldn't so they had to grit their teeth and get on with it.
McCallion rejected rumours that Grundy might stand against Bore for the Labour leadership at the group's annual meeting in May. There was "absolutely no substance" in the suggestion, he said.
He did admit, however, that Grundy, in common with a number of other Labour councillors, had become increasingly concerned about the group's performance since June 2004, when the party lost power after more than 20 years in control of the council.
There was impatience at the "lack of drive" and Grundy, as an intelligent woman, had been bound to consider whether it was worth continuing as a councillor. She had commented on the poor record of opposition in group meetings on a number of occasions.
As far as Howell is concerned, McCallion added: "People were panic-striken at the thought of Andy coming on. He is the sort of person who would stand up in group meetings and say exactly what he thinks."
The treatment of Howell by the regional office has appalled many Labour figures in Birmingham.
One of the reasons why Howell - a former deputy council leader - was denied a place on the panel of election candidates, it is rumoured, was his reluctance to spend his spare time pushing party literature through letter boxes. A very convenient excuse, I am sure you will agree.
So, will Sir Albert face a challenge next month?
McCallion thinks not. The time is not right, Labour's fortuens are at a low ebb and there is no obvious challenger.
Exactly the right conditions, I would have thought, for someone with ambition to spring a surprise particularly if, as is likely, Labour lose five or six seats on May 1.
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Bore was a far better leader of the council than Whitby is now. Sadly no one in Birmingham seems to actually vote on the performance of the local parties. Instead, as elsewhere in the UK, local elections are seen as a way of giving the govt in Westminster a good kicking. So we seem likely to be lumbered with at least another 3 or 4 years of Lib-Con coalition.
I wouldn't mind if the current lot were even remotely competent, but they're not.
Both Bore and Whitby have their faults. I wouldn't describe either as great leaders.
It is irrefutable, though, that the council as a whole is performing better now than was the case between 1999 and 2004, when Bore was the leader.
We no longer have a social care and housing department on the verge of being taken over by the Government thanks to structural and mangement changes that Bore was either unable or unwilling to push through.