Sussex council leaders in bid for national title

12:30pm Thursday 31st January 2013 in News By Ben Parsons

Two Sussex council leaders are to battle it out to be named the best in the country.

Jason Kitcat from Brighton and Hove City Council and James Page from Lewes District Council are up for the title of Leader of the Year at the 2013 C’llr Achievement Awards.

The Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), which organises the awards, said they had been nominated by the public and shortlisted from a record number of nominees.

A panel of judges will decide the winner on the basis of commitment to the role, a vision for their community, successful leadership, good community relations, accountability and the ability to unite supporters.

Coun Kitcat, below, the leader of the city council’s Green group, has only been in the post since last April, when he took over from Bill Randall. He has called for councillors to be paid salaries and fought the Government for the right to put up council tax to avoid cuts.

After learning of his shortlisting he said he had not been told why he had been picked ahead of other nominees.

He said: “It is humbling to be nominated and shortlisted. I think it reflects the hard work that has been done by all my colleagues, councillors and officers.”

Coun Page, the leader of the Lewes Conservative group, was elected leader of the council in February last year, taking over from Tony Nicholson.

Accepting his new post he said the council was “no longer up to the mark” and called for efficiency savings and better customer service.

Awards ceremony

The shortlist will be judged by a panel, including the charity Age UK.

Eric Pickles, secretary of state for communities and local government, is due to address the awards ceremony at which the councillors will find out if they have won on February 25.

Dr Jonathan Carr-West, the acting chief executive of LGIU, said: “Councillors can often |represent the unsung heroes of their community so the awards provide a fantastic chance to celebrate their achievements.”

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Comments(16)

bogs says...
12:35pm Thu 31 Jan 13

He said: “It is humbling to be nominated and shortlisted. I think it reflects the hard work that has been done by all my colleagues, councillors and officers.”

to ruin the town!!!

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Martha Gunn says...
12:37pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Argus - just stop it! April Fool is in two months not now. The idea of the hapless Kitcat as any sort of 'leader' is just ridiculous.

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brightonline says...
12:53pm Thu 31 Jan 13

this must be a joke....if it is, it's not a very good one......

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Crystal Ball says...
12:57pm Thu 31 Jan 13

To paraphrase Winston Churchill (and apologies to him for using it in the context of this hilarious article) "Never has so much rubbish been spouted by so few about so much to so many".

Heaven preserve us.

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chattychatty1 says...
12:58pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Well Done Jason. Way to go.

Its time Brighton and Hove showed the rest of the country how things should be run in a more sustainable and caring way - Ignore the negative trolls and party stooges on here. Dinosaurs.

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Vigilia says...
1:02pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Was this voting procedure only open to travellers?

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albion seagull says...
1:12pm Thu 31 Jan 13

who was voting Crusty the Clown - this is a shocking joke

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NickBrt says...
1:48pm Thu 31 Jan 13

So few people care about councillors that no doubt Jason and caroline were the only two to cast a vote on his miserable behalf. His sick-inducing reply makes no mention of the public who he's supposed to represent. Shows how much he cares for us. He doesn't even mention the plight of the travellers which is astonishing!

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Morpheus says...
2:47pm Thu 31 Jan 13

If Kitcat is amongst the best I pity the other councils.

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upsidedowntuctuc says...
3:26pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Absolute disgrace but part of the big plan to get Kitkat top of Green Party MEP list.
Get enough people to nominate him and hey presto.
Hopefully the prize will be a one way ticket to Siberia or China or even India where he can clean up their disgusting violations of the environment.
Remember years ago when the Council declared Brighton a Nuclear Free Zone?
Those cold war rockets on the way to London would have had to avoid our Air Space?
If every car, power station and any other sources of Greenhouse Gasses were stopped in this country it would reduce emissions Globally by less than 1/10th of 1 percent.
To reduce Greenhouse gasses boycott goods from China and the Indian sub continent
To reduce green gasses remove this bunch of ideological. lefties from the Town Hall

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ruberducker says...
3:35pm Thu 31 Jan 13

chattychatty1 wrote:
Well Done Jason. Way to go.

Its time Brighton and Hove showed the rest of the country how things should be run in a more sustainable and caring way - Ignore the negative trolls and party stooges on here. Dinosaurs.
you know there is medication you can take.

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Sussex jim says...
6:01pm Thu 31 Jan 13

chattychatty1 wrote:
Well Done Jason. Way to go.

Its time Brighton and Hove showed the rest of the country how things should be run in a more sustainable and caring way - Ignore the negative trolls and party stooges on here. Dinosaurs.
There must be an odd island somewhere that freaks like Chatty can go an live and start their own alternative society. And take Mr. Kitcat with you.

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Idontbelieveit1948 says...
7:07pm Thu 31 Jan 13

LGIU is a Quango, obviously it missed the bonfire !

Its website tells us ;-

"The Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) is an award winning think tank and membership organisation. Our mission is to strengthen local democracy to put citizens in control of their own lives, communities and local services."

Obviously they haven't heard about our Green Dictators down here who ignore anything their citizens want in favour of their own ideological preferences.

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Vigilia says...
8:44pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Just a little factual perspective.
This is the actual shortlist:

LEADER OF THE YEAR
Cllr Philip Atkins (Staffordshire County Council)
Cllr David Burbage (Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead)
Cllr Nigel Holdcroft (Southend-on-Sea Borough Council)
Cllr Jason Kitcat (Brighton and Hove City Council)
Cllr James Page (Lewes District Council)
Cllr Chris Robbins (Waltham Forest Council)
Cllr Catherine West (Islington)

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Martha Gunn says...
9:37pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Vigilia wrote:
Just a little factual perspective.
This is the actual shortlist:

LEADER OF THE YEAR
Cllr Philip Atkins (Staffordshire County Council)
Cllr David Burbage (Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead)
Cllr Nigel Holdcroft (Southend-on-Sea Borough Council)
Cllr Jason Kitcat (Brighton and Hove City Council)
Cllr James Page (Lewes District Council)
Cllr Chris Robbins (Waltham Forest Council)
Cllr Catherine West (Islington)
Well done Vigilla for pointing this out. Slack Argus reporting gave the impression the only lacklustre Lewes and fruit loop Brighton Council were in the running.

But nonetheless still recovering from the notion that Comrade Kitcat can be regarded as a 'leader'. Is oxymoron a word that comes to mind?

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thevoiceoftruth says...
8:34pm Sat 2 Feb 13

To be fair the Argus did say 'Sussex council leaders'. God help us, should Kitkat win. The last thing that man needs is an ego boost, or validation of any kind.

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