Exit On Judd Street: the gifts list
TO the Town Hall, for a little Friday afternoon peek at the register councillors use to openly declare any gifts they are handed as part of the job or any hospitality provided by winers and diners. The cabinet of senior councillors seems the best place to start, but they hardly seem to have had a bean to report. Since May 1 2012, Julian Fulbrook, Valerie Leach, Tulip Siddiq, Angela Mason and Abdul Hai haven’t declared a thing on the gifts and hospitality list.
Finance chief Theo Blackwell’s only entry over that time is two sweatshirts from lettings people Rentify. I bet they look ace. Phil Jones, the environment guy, has only one entry too: a three course din-dins at Gaucho covered by Network Rail. Pat Callaghan has been up The Shard, while Nash Ali had a music concert day out at Hyde Park.
It’s interesting, if you run the list back to the years when Nash was leader, you’ll find he was, perhaps unsurprisingly, invited to a lot more gigs – and was given tickets to performances by Coldplay and Mumford and Sons at the Roundhouse at that time.
But that’s politics – and if you switch your eyes to his successor, Sarah Hayward, you’ll find a few extra invites seem to go with the territory. Since becoming leader at the Town Hall last May, she has declared, among other things, tickets to two outdoor film screenings at the British Museum, a ticket to the Amy Winehouse Foundation Ball at the Dorchester (£500), a reception at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School, a trip up the Shard, a ticket to the Olympic Closing Ceremony (not sure if that was a gift, or a punishment) and the one to make us all completely green with envy: two tickets from the Royal Parks for the historic return to Hyde Park by the Rolling Stones. A real I-was-there moment.
CABINET GIFT LISTS TABLE SINCE MAY 1, 2012
1. SARAH HAYWARD LEADER
| 26/06/2012: Labour Group Reception and Dinner; estimated cost £45 | Local Government Association |
| 27/06/2012; Local Government Association/Price Waterhouse Coopers Dinner; estimated cost £45 | Price Waterhouse Coopers |
| 06/07/2012; Tickets to outdoor screening of Blackmail; estimated cost £20. | British Museum |
| 26/07/2012; Reception to mark Opening of Olympics – drinks and canapés; estimated cost £20. | Mayor of London & Lord Mayor |
| 12/08/2012; Tickets to Olympic Closing Ceremony; estimated cost £150 | Mayor of London |
| 17/08/2012; Tickets to outdoor screening of The Hollow Crown: Richard II; estimated cost £20. | British Museum |
| 21/08/2012; Dinner; estimated cost £30. | Metropolitan Police |
| 07/09/2012; Evening reception to celebrate contribution of deaf and blind – drinks and canapés; estimated cost £15. | Greater London Authority |
| 01/10/2012; Centre for London Labour Dinner; estimated cost £45. | Centre for London |
| 30/10/2012; Networking reception – drinks and canapés; estimated cost £20. | University College London |
| 14/11/2012; 5 Years of the UK’s Favourite Rail Station celebration – champagne reception; estimated cost £25. | Searcy’s |
| 20/11/2012; Invitation to the Amy Winehouse Foundation Ball at the Dorchester Hotel. Estimated cost £500 | Amy Winehouse Foundation |
| 18/01/2013; Invitation to a preview of the View from the Shard; estimated cost £32. | Peter John, the Leader of Southwark Council |
| 25/01/2013; Invitation to Newham Council’s Burns Night Supper; estimated cost £100. | Berwick Partners |
| 10/05/2013; Evening reception at Cordon Bleu Cookery School; estimated cost £50. | Cordon Bleu Cookery School |
| 06/07/2013; 2 tickets to The Rolling Stones Concert at Hyde Park; estimated cost £190. N.B. – This has also been published on the GLA website and is the same as that event. | The Royal Parks Board |
| 07/08/2013; 2 tickets to a reception and tour of the Propaganda: Power and Persuasion Exhibition; estimated cost £30. | The British Library |
2. PAT CALLAGHAN
| 08/11/12 – Reception for the South Asian Community Diabetes Campaign at the House of Lords | The South Asian Health Foundation (U.K.) |
| 11/01/2013 – Invitation to a preview of View from the Shard, estimated cost £32 | Sellar Design and Development |
3. ANGELA MASON
NONE
4. TULIP SIDDIQ
NONE
5. THEO BLACKWELL
| 06/06/2013 – Two sweatshirts | Rentify |
6. ABDUL HAI
NONE
7. PHIL JONES
| 25/02/13; Three course meal at Gaucho | Network Rail |
8. JULIAN FULBROOK
NONE
9. NASIM ALI
| 27/07/2012; 5 x Tickets – BT London Live at Hyde Park | Mayor of London |
10. VALERIE LEACH
NONE
UPDATED: Some tweets in reaction to this post from the delighted Gift List beneficiaries
For @RichardOsley it was an amazing gig. pic.twitter.com/nDsMcHJehk
— Sarah Hayward (@Sarah_Hayward) September 6, 2013
@richardosley funny you should say that pic.twitter.com/LmfvXw1iP4
— Theo Blackwell (@camdentheo) September 6, 2013
500 quid do at the Dorchester – obviously a woman who can’t get no satisfaction!
Bit envious about the Rolling Stones gig, but don’t start me up!!!!!!!
But hey, it’s only Rock n’ Roll!
Daz
Glad the historic gig was good. Of course, I was at the original Stones in the Park 45 years ago…but that was free! Seriously, despite some persistent press suspicion, local government, and maybe especially Camden, is completely free from anything that might lead to undue influence on decisions.
Definitely mixed emotions about this one!
Daz