Gown cash mayor plans a comeback

Feb 25 2010 By Tara Brady, Harrow Observer

A FORMER mayor of Brent who was suspended from the council earlier this month says she will stand as a Conservative candidate in the local elections this May.

Bertha Joseph lost her appeal on February 9 against a suspension from the local authority after it was revealed she used sponsorship cash to buy a ball gown.

The councillor was originally reprimanded in October last year by the Standards Committee. It was recommended she pay £900 to the current mayor's charity.

But despite being kicked off the council for failing to register gifts within 28 days, bringing her office into dis repute and using her position as mayor to obtain cash, she is determined to serve Kensal Green in the elections.

She said: "I have always acted honestly in everything that I do in my role as a councillor and it was my honesty in writing to the council's solicitor to inform them that I forgot to declare the sponsorship which resulted in this suspension.

"There was never any attempt to conceal the sponsorship. It was just the matter of declaring it on time which resulted in this very unfortunate suspension.

"I accept the decision of the Adjudication Panel and will serve my suspension with dignity and will stand in the Local Election as a Conservative candidate in Kensal Green Ward."

But not everyone is convinced and Labour politicians are calling for Ms Joseph to be sacked from the London Fire Authority which she sits on. The position commands a £12,000 annual allowance.

Councillor Ann John, leader of the Labour group, said: "Having taken money for charity to buy herself ball gowns, thus bringing the mayoralty and the council into disrepute, the Tories have rewarded Joseph with a bigger slice of the public purse than she had before.

"It is rumoured that the Conservatives intend to select Joseph as a candidate for the upcoming elections despite the tribunal judgement.

"At a time when the public is rightly concerned about standards in public life, this judgement surely merits even more publicity than it has had so far."

But Conservative councillor John Detre defended Ms Joseph saying: "Councillor Joseph is extremely disappointed by this decision and believes it to be an attempt to 'politicise justice' following a persistent and sustained attack by political opponents on her good character.

"As an effective and high profile local councillor, who always puts her local residents first, Ms Joseph sees this as a deliberate attempt to try and discredit her during an election year. She will continue with her hard-working campaign on behalf of the residents of Kensal Green as the decision does not prevent her from standing for re-election in May."

Ms Joseph, who is originally from Dominica and lives in Kensal Green, controversially defected from the Labour group to the Tories in 2007.

She was elected as a Labour councillor for Church End in 1986 and in 1998 she became Brent's first African-Caribbean mayor.

She was elected mayor for a second term in 2006.