All join in, “why are we waiting, whhhy aaare we waaaiting?” So it’s been 14 days (cold cold days here at Debunking Towers, we refuse to put the heating on in the office until we can stir our cups of tea with the icicles hanging off our noses) since Councillor Paul ‘Liz’ Turner quit as council leader rather abruptly, and we’ve not heard anything since. So far as we have been aware at Debunking, it is highly unusual for a Council leader to just quit with no warning, normally giving the Council some time until the next meeting before it becomes effective is the way to do it. It has apparently put the cat amongst the Tories too, since there has been no heir to the majestic Turner dynasty in two weeks.
Whilst we were aware there was trouble at ‘t Mill we never did find out what was going on (being sneaky and people being leaky can only get us so far), but whatever it was has been enough to presumably delay the anointing of a new leader. With Christmas coming soon and the Goose having to find new accommodation due to lack of room, we do wonder whether a new leader will be in place at the Christmas full Council. So who has been running the Council in the last two weeks, why it’s Councillor Thomas Jay! Who would very much like to remove the ‘acting’ prefix he is currently sporting.
Councillor Jay, also known as ‘TJ’ to friends and colleagues (so we’ll use it too as we are sure he loves us) has been rumoured to have been pretty much running the show since the great Tory Rebellion where he became Deputy Leader of the Council, as part of the installation of the New and Improved Tory Leadership™. Which if true would also make him very culpable in the whole Goostrygate saga, making us ask why did he survive and not fall on his sword as his boss did? It is a question perhaps the remaining Tory group are asking themselves. Was he not in the room when the destruction was ordered?
TJ, readers will know, is best pals with our not so local troll Paul Brina Brindley (Failed Councillor, failed businessman, liar, hate merchant, strangely quiet) and the thought of Brindley having any influence over Tamworth Borough Council quite simply gives us the heebie-jeebies. Being quite serious now (yes we are capable thank you) this is a very real possibility, as Brina’s usually vitriolic behaviour towards the Council has been dormant in the last few weeks. It’s almost as if he knows his best pal is up for the top job and wouldn’t want to jeopardise it. Is Tamworth safe under North Warwickshire and Brazil dwelling Thomas Jay? Or is it a bridge away from home for the Troll to influence from? He is also apparently the favourite of the Labour opposition and if you are a regular reader, you will already know how Councillor Richard Kingstone feels about him.
And if that wasn’t enough for you, there’s more. We also understand that TJ runs a business using a soon to be curtailed loophole (love your Government colleagues much TJ?) bringing cheap foreign healthcare workers into the Country, and was presumably too much of a bad taste for Tory central to have him be in the running for MP in the recent by-election. If you were a Tory, let alone a Tory Councillor, wouldn’t all that have you running for the hills?
