Conservative councillor to stand trial for assault in December

A Conservative councillor charged with assaulting a woman days before the local elections is standing trial in December.

The 77 year old former Leicestershire County Council chairman, Cllr Tony Kershaw, was cabinet member for waste and chairman of the environment and transport overview and scrutiny committee until he was suspended after being charged with the assault.

Leicestershire Labour councillor paid £2,750 per meeting

A Labour councillor convicted of firearms offences earlier this year has been paid over £5,500 in allowances despite attending just 2 meetings this year out of an expected 14.

Leicester City Councillor, Robert Wann, told the Leicester Mercury "I have been to way more than that. I missed mayor-making but it's more than two". The minutes of the meetings he was supposed to have attended show that he was absent from all but two of them. He has been paid over £2,750 per meeting which is pretty good going when you consider that that's at least £1,000 per hour for the average council meeting.

Cllr Neil Clayton, the leader of the Labour group on Leicester City Council, said there was no point taking the whip off Cllr Wann because he has already said he's going to step down at next year's elections.

Leicester Tory Councillor charged with assault

A Conservative County Councillor in Leicestershire has been charged with assaulting a woman just before the elections in May.

Cllr Tony Kershaw allegedly assaulted the woman in Anstey on May 2nd, an allegation he denies. His court hearing yesterday was adjourned to ensure that police and medical witnesses would be available.

Four defections in three days

UKIP has been lucky enough to gain three councillors this week - three from defections and one an independent joining us.

Independent parish councillor for Ercall Magna in Telford & Wrekin, John Sadler, became a UKIP councillor on Monday.  Cllr Sadler has been a councillor for over 30 years and was the first independent mayor of Telford & Wrekin.

The Tories have also lost two councillors to UKIP in Leicestershire after Cllrs David Sprason and Rob Fraser both defected yesterday.  Both councillors have been victims of the dictatorial leadership of Leicester Council's Conservative group, Nick Rushton, who arrogantly said that "we'll select someone to stand against him and keep the seat in Conservative hands after the election".

A former Tory councillor in Cumbria has also defected from the Tories to UKIP.  Bob Hardon has been a Tory for over 50 years, was a councillor for over 20 years and lost his seat in 2011 by just 2 votes.

Heathen bastards in Leicestershire?

Maybe it was one too many New Year celebrations of the fermented variety or maybe he just didn't engage his brain before putting his fingers on his keyboard but this delightful New Year's message has appeared a Leicesterchire councillor's blog:

2013 will be a bad year for the fat wallet Tories in N W Leicestershire and rightly so. Their party is in turmoil and infighting is causing problems for their top tier. They have no answer to Labour who have no answer to anything and will be fielding a bunch of second raters in May. The fact that the electorate are largely ignorant of the candidates and too lazy to find out is Labour's strongest, in fact only policy. Definate losers will be in Forest & Measham, Ibstock & Appleby and extemely likely Whitwick & Thringstone Thank you both for your Christmas cards but I know you are heathen bastards grovelling for my vote so you have no chance of that. 1987 revisited but with Labour taking seats back and achieving absolutely nothing again, just as in the previous 33 years under them.

This has come from the keyboard of "independent" Leicestershire councillor, Graham Partner.  Cllr Partner is a former-BNP councillor who now sits as an independent but he is a member of a political party.  Can you guess which one it is?  Here's a couple of clues before we do the big reveal:

• Former BNP member
• Obsession with Muslims
• Intemperate language
• Unprofessional behaviour

It couldn't be anyone else could it?

Cllr Partner's register of interests confirms that he is a member of the English Democrats.  The entire NW Leics branch of the BNP switched to the English Democrats before this year's local elections helping to complete the BNP takeover of that party.