Mayor of Barnet Brian Coleman's engagements below north London average (From Times Series)

Mayor of Barnet Brian Coleman's engagements below north London average

12:10pm Saturday 26th September 2009 in

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THE mayor of Barnet is trailing behind most other north London borough mayors in the number of engagements he is attending.

Tory Councillor Brian Coleman has made 123 appearances since being elected as the first citizen of the borough in May — less than one appearance a day.

The 48-year-old Totteridge ward councillor is forced to dedicate his time to several other political roles, meaning he is unable to focus solely on functions related to the borough of Barnet.

Almost a third of all engagements in the mayor's diary have been carried out by the deputy mayor, Councillor Hugh Rayner, or a former borough mayor.

The average appearances of mayors in six north London boroughs is 168.

Mr Coleman, who is also Greater London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden and chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, is down by about 150 visits compared to his counterpart in Camden, Councillor Omar Faruque Ansari, who has been to a staggering 275 engagements.

Haringey Council believes its mayor, Councillor Bernice Vanier, has carried out up to ten engagements a week over the same period, meaning she has attended up to 200.

Harrow Mayor Councillor Eric Silver has carried out 169 engagements, and Brent Mayor Councillor Jim O'Sullivan has been to more than 130.

Only the mayor of Enfield, Eleftherios Savva, has carried out fewer than Mr Coleman, attending just 110 functions since May.

An often outspoken political figure, Mr Coleman has courted controversy over his high taxi bills, comments on ethnic minorities and his attitude towards firefighters.

He has previously defended his expenses, claiming “those with higher expenses are the ones who do most work”.

Most recently, he was found in breach of Barnet Council's code of conduct after sending an abusive email to a blogger.