There is an interesting story that the deputy political editor of the Evening Standard Paul Waugh has on his blog today.He has reported that Conservative Home are saying that Paul Bettison, leader of Bracknell Forest Borough Council has been excluded from the shortlist for the upcoming open primary.
There are suspicions that the reason why this may have happened could be partly due to criticism Bettison made of Conservative Party Chairman Eric Pickles' use of language around so called "bin taxes":
I wish Eric Pickles would stop calling them bin taxes. It is very galling. They are bin charges. They are not taxes at all. You pay for the service you get. The current system of invisible waste charges is much more like a tax. I know what it is like to be in opposition, but many of us Conservatives are in power in local authorities, trying to run waste services, and he is not helping us.(BBC News 26 November 2008)
Paul also reports criticisms Mr Bettison apparently made of Shadow Chancellor and key David Cameron ally George Osborne's plans to cut council tax.
I don't know the ins and outs of this but what I would say is that open primaries are supposed to be just that, open. If a successful and leading local Conservative politician has been excluded from the shortlist, whatever the reason then this does not say much for the democratic process that these primaries are supposed to embody.
I would be interested to hear what other local residents think about this.
