Barnet blogger is Lib Dem council candidate for Mill Hill (From Times Series)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news & views by texting TIMES NEWS to 80360, or email us
Anti-council blogger to stand for Lib Dems at next election
2:23pm Wednesday 9th December 2009 in News
Cllr Jeremy Davies, Kim Checchetto and Roger Tichborne, the Lib Dem candidates for the Mill Hill seats
A CONTROVERSIAL blogger who took on the Mayor of Barnet in a standards dispute is a surprise candidate for the Liberal Democrats at next May's council elections.
Roger Tichborne, who writes the BarnetEye blog as RogT, is one of the three candidates named to fight the Mill Hill ward seats, along with standing councillor Jeremy Davies and businesswoman and Times Series blogger Kim Checchetto.
Mr Tichborne was a member of the Labour party for more than 20 years, but said recent policy decisions by the government had caused him to change allegiances.
The Mill Hill resident said: “I found I just could not agree with things they were doing, like scrapping the 10p tax rate and the idea to privatise the Post Office.
“The decision to run for the Lib Dems came only in the last month. I met with (Cllr) Jack Cohen the leader and talked to him about it.
“So many people have asked me to stand for council from all sides of the spectrum I feel I would be letting them down if I didn't.”
He hit the headlines in September when he took the Mayor, Cllr Brian Coleman, to the Standards Committee over an email he sent to Mr Tichborne.
The London assembly member was found in breach of the code of conduct for councillors.
The father-of-three and professional musician, who owns a recording studio in Mill Hill said he has no ambitions to stand for Parliament, adding: “I'd rather have a number one record.”
He said he would continue to write his blog if he is elected.
Comments(13)
AmandaB
says...
3:47pm Wed 9 Dec 09
Seriously though Rog will have plenty of time to brush up on his geography of the Borough given recent ramblings!
As for the Lib Dems - well erm... where are they? Not even a glowing comment from Jack Cohen welcoming him - charming!
Rog T
says...
3:55pm Wed 9 Dec 09
You mean my ramblings about Barnet Council & Matthew Offord issuing a press release saying Farm Road was in Mill Hill, rather than Edgware?
narthlandan
says...
5:40pm Wed 9 Dec 09
TimberWolf
says...
6:06pm Wed 9 Dec 09
g.uk
Rog T
says...
6:22pm Wed 9 Dec 09
The Tories in Barnet want to privatise everything under the Future Shape program. In Mill Hill Ward the only party that can stop that is the Lib Dems. Look what they did to the meals on wheels service?
DuncanMacdonald
says...
8:11pm Wed 9 Dec 09
narthlandan wrote:Actually Lib Dem policy is the following;
Has no-one told Roger that the Lib Dems have promised to privatise Royal Mail?
1. Split the post office network from Royal Mail so they operate as two separate organisations.
2. Sell 49% of the shares in Royal Mail and use the capital raised to invest directly in the postal network, support branch modernisation, build profitable businesses and promote new services
3. Free post offices from restrictions imposed by their tied contracts with Royal Mail.
4. Provide Royal Mail workers with a stake in their future by splitting the remaining 51% stake between a staff trust and the government
5. Ensure that Royal Mail staff have a full opportunity to participate in the running of the company as part owners and through a staff council.
6. Free Royal Mail from Treasury borrowing controls, so it can invest.
narthlandan
says...
9:31pm Wed 9 Dec 09
DuncanMacdonald
says...
9:48pm Wed 9 Dec 09
narthlandan wrote:Control remains in the hands of the staff and the government, but with the freedom to actually make a success of it. Win win as far as I can see.
Thank you for the detail, but that still means privatisation
Caroline S
says...
10:31pm Wed 9 Dec 09
RobDCH
says...
1:55am Thu 10 Dec 09
AmandaB, may believe that he should not have the right nor freedom of choice to do so and would prevent it. Then of course she/it really are in the wrong political party
AmandaB it is time you really did grow up, remove the eye-patches, get the brain in gear and note the financial losses by the Conservative administration and many other nasty little bits.
You seem to have the rhetoric of a Right wing party's espousals in1930s Germany and with the same degree of compassion and humanity towards their fellow man/woman. You certainly do the Conservative Party no favours in arguing their case.
narthlandan
says...
11:38pm Thu 10 Dec 09
DuncanMacdonald wrote:To me it sounds like no-one would be in charge, fudges always lead to stagnation at best and disaster at worst
narthlandan wrote: Thank you for the detail, but that still means privatisationControl remains in the hands of the staff and the government, but with the freedom to actually make a success of it. Win win as far as I can see.
Rog T
says...
12:30am Fri 11 Dec 09
You're not familiar with the way companies such as BMW and Siemens are run then? where workers have a presence on the board. Or do you think these companies are unsuccessful?
REM says...
2:59pm Wed 9 Dec 09