Pancake Politics Cause a Stir – Council Leader Accuses ‘R4GV’ of ‘Overstepping the Mark’

Published on: 7 Mar, 2019
Updated on: 10 Mar, 2019

Contestants in the mascots pancake race. Photo Charlotteville Jubilee Trust

A generous pinch of bitterness seems to have been included in the recipe for Shrove Tuesday’s charity pancake race in the High Street, causing a pre-election spat and talk of a formal complaint to the Charity Commission.

With the political temperature rising as the borough election campaign begins to bubble, two of the established parties are questioning the new Residents for Guildford and Villages (R4GV) group’s “politicisation” of the event. The group had displayed banners at the finish line and handed out leaflets promoting their policies.

The Cavendar team pose for a photo – in the background can be seen some of the Residents for Guildford and Villages banners subject of the complaints. Photo Charlotteville Jubilee Trust

The annual fun race, organised by the Charlotteville Jubilee Trust and compered this year, once again, by Peter Gordon of Eagle Radio, raises money for selected charities. Guildford Borough Council (GBC) are said to provide licensing support and facilities at a special charity rate and “match-fund” money, this year raised for the Mayoral charity, Young Carers. The Mayor of Guildford, Cllr Mike Parsons was said to have been “embarrassed” by the political activity.

The Mayor of Guildford, Cllr Mike Parsons, was said to have been embarrassed. Photo Charlotteville Jubilee Trust

Council Leader Paul Spooner said: “I am extremely disappointed at the politicisation of the excellent and very well supported annual Pancake Race. There is a time and place for electioneering and it was definitely not appropriate for campaigning, distributing political literature and the display of political banners at this community event.

Cllr Paul Spooner

“There is a world of difference between attendance and support by politicians and active campaigning. In my opinion, R4GV overstepped the mark in every way.”

GBC’s monitoring officer, as “head of legal”, is said to be taking up the complaints directly with the race organiser on behalf of the council. One GBC source told The Dragon there was no desire to see the Charity Commission issue a sanction preventing the event next year and that could be avoided if the organisers issued a statement admitting a mistake was made in promoting a political cause at the race.

John Redpath (in 2014)

John Redpath, who has organised the event for many years, is also standing as an Independent candidate under the R4GV umbrella in the May 2 election. Writing as the general manager of Charlotteville Jubilee Trust, he said: “It is sad that Cllr Spooner is using his position as council leader to do down a local charity, very sad.

“As pancake race organiser this year, I had to consider the request of a new residents’ group (R4GV) who wished to help with sponsorship.  I was aware this group were challenging the elected members of the borough council on a number of issues and therefore had to make the following key considerations:
1. Is R4GV a political party registered with the Electoral Commission (EC)?  [My conclusion] No, they’re not. They’re just a group of concerned residents.
2. Do they have any political candidates registered with GBC for the up and coming elections?  [My conclusion]  No, they don’t.

“If the answer to either of the above had been yes then their request to sponsor would have been refused as this may well infringe both Charity Commission and EC rules/guidelines, but I’m no expert.”

Cllr Caroline Reeves

Caroline Reeves, leader of the Lib Dems at GBC, said: “I didn’t see the pancake races because I was at a meeting with a local charity.

“I think it’s accepted practice that when councillors attend any general charity or fundraising event they put aside [party] politics of any colour or description, especially if it’s the Mayor’s charity.

“I think it’s very unfortunate if anything that happened at the pancake races went against this basic understanding. Being a councillor isn’t all about politics.”

The event is reported to have raised around £1,500, after GBC’s match-funding.

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