Respected Worplesdon Councillor Deselected

Published on: 17 Jul, 2018
Updated on: 17 Jul, 2018

Cllr Bob McShee

Bob McShee, one of three Conservative borough councillors for Worplesdon, has been deselected as a Conservative candidate for next year’s (2019) borough council elections. He has served as a borough councillor for seven years having been first elected in 2011.

The news comes in the wake of the deselection and subsequent resignation as a Conservative of former council and party group leader Cllr Tony Rooth (Pilgrims) and the deselection of Cllr Michael Illman (Shalford) who, after a successful appeal, has now withdrawn his candidature following his sacking from the Guildford Borough Council (GBC) Executive.

The Guildford Dragon NEWS broke the story of other problems with the Conservative candidate selection process in Holy Trinity Ward yesterday (July 16, 2018).

Cllr McShee has refused to toe the leadership line on several issues, including the partnership with the Chinese city of Dong Ying and the ill-fated “Village” project, which failed at a cost to the council of over £1 million.

His attendance record at GBC is 80% over the last two years, almost identical to his ward colleague Iseult Roche, a member of the Executive. Unlike some backbench councillors, McShee has regularly contributed to debates. But he has also voted against the leadership line or abstained over several Local Plan issues on which there is supposed to be no party “whipping”.

April 12 2017 – Bob McShee (1 – face obscured by the voting arm of his ward colleague David Elms) failing to vote in favour of the reduction in size of the Planning Committee along with Dennis Paul (3) who has failed to secure reselection at Holy Trinity. Tony Rooth (2) who resigned from the Conservative Group in May, was at the time a member of the Executive and can be seen voting in favour.

In 2016, Council Leader Paul Spooner removed McShee from the joint borough/county council Local Committee but denied it was because of McShee’s preparedness to speak his mind. McShee was also removed from the Planning Committee when it was controversially reduced in size from 23 to 15, leaving some wards without any permanent, direct representation.

A party branch meeting to select the Conservative party candidates for Worplesdon has been called on July 25 at a venue to be announced. Only Conservative Worplesdon Branch members living within the Worplesdon ward will be eligible to vote.

Incumbents David Elms (left) and Iseult Roche, as well as County Cllr Keith Witham, are thought likely to be among those seeking selection as Conservative candidates for Worplesdon in next year’s borough council elections.

The other existing Worplesdon borough councillors, Iseult Roche and David Elms, both Conservatives, have been reselected and will presumably be hoping for local selection by their Worplesdon branch, as might be the county councillor for Worplesdon, Keith Witham who is also on the list of approved Conservative candidates.

One factor that might be raised at the selection meeting is Cllr Roche’s failure to attend any of the Worplesdon Parish Council meetings held in the last three years, since she was re-elected in 2015. Cllr McShee, who served as a Worplesdon Parish Councillor for nearly 29 years, 13 years as its chairman, and Cllr Elms have both attended regularly.

Bob Hughes

Asked to give the reason for McShee’s deselection, Bob Hughes, chairman of the Guildford Conservative Association, which oversees and organises candidate selection, said: “The rules of the party on the selection of council candidates… set down that a panel of party members vote by ballot without discussion on whether or not to admit someone to the list of candidates.

“The panel made a decision not to put Bob on the list, but I cannot speculate as to why any member of that panel voted either way.”

Cllr McShee has declined to comment.

Worplesdon Ward returned three Conservative councillors from 1973 to 1995 then three Lib Dems from 1995 until the 2007 election. It has remained solidly Conservative since [source Wikipedia].

See also: Turmoil in Town Centre Tory Candidate Selection Process as Third Meeting is Called, Shalford Councillor Withdraws From Next Year’s Borough Council Election, Councillor Says He Was Removed From Committee Over Views On Link Road Plans and Letter: Why Was Cllr McShee Removed – Are We in a Dictatorship?

Share This Post