Senior Tories Successfully Appeal Against Deselection – Now They Must Apply Again

Published on: 6 Feb, 2018
Updated on: 6 Feb, 2018

A former Guildford Borough Council leader and the existing lead councillor for finance and asset management have had appeals against their deselection by the Guildford Conservative Association, as candidates for the 2019 borough council election, upheld.

Deselection of sitting councillors, of such seniority, is believed to be unprecedented, locally.

Cllr Tony Rooth

But the result does not mean they are now on the list of approved candidates, both applicants, former leader Tony Rooth (Con, Pilgrims) and Michael Illman (Con, Shalford) will now have to go through the whole selection process again.

The appeals were upheld at an unusually well-attended meeting of the Guildford Conservative Association Executive Committee on Friday (February 2, 2018) chaired by the deputy leader of GBC, Matt Furniss. Around 30 members of the committee are understood to have been present. The meeting was advised it should only consider whether due process had been properly followed.

Cllr Michael Illman

Included in the grounds for Michael Illman’s appeal is said to have been a claim that one member of the selection panel, Jim Dawkins, the GCA president, had been prejudiced against Illman because of a disagreement about the handling of three planning applications.

Cllr Illman’s performance as a ward councillor is also understood to have been criticised.

Today (February 6), Mr Dawkins responded: “It is not appropriate to comment in detail about the selection process, however the suggestion that I was biased in any way is just not true and hurtful.

Jim Dawkins, President of
Guildford Conservative
Association (taken in 2013).

“Someone with my experience and integrity would never act with anything other than complete probity and the four other members of the panel would attest to that. As a grandfather of 86, I believe firmly that anyone standing for elected public office needs to work tirelessly for the people they represent.”

Central to both appeals appears to have been consideration that the selection panels may not have been properly constituted because they did not have the required number of non-councillors. Specific to this point was the status of parish councillors; should they have been considered “councillors” under the GCA selection rules, or not?

After considerable debate, much of it over the interpretation of the rules, secret ballots were held and both appeals were allowed.

Cllr Matt Furniss
chaired the appeal
hearings

Cllr Rooth, who was sacked from the Executive last year by Council Leader Paul Spooner, has made his opposition to some recent council decisions well known, for example the linking with the Chinese City of Dongying and the proposal to continue subsidising The Village project. As a result, he is now likely to be regarded as a thorn in the leadership’s side.

But the deselection of Michael Illman seems more surprising. He has loyally supported leadership decisions, even breaking an election pledge to object to the controversial development of Blackwell Farm, in the process.

The selection process for Conservative councillors is continuing, albeit interrupted by the appeals, but most candidates are now believed to have been chosen.

Given the domination of Guildford Borough Council by the Conservative party the selection panels in effect chose, in the safe Conservative wards at least, who will be the future councillors, unless there is a major electoral upset.

The boundaries of the GCA area are the same as those for the Guildford parliamentary constituency, and so include some of the Waverley Borough wards, while some GBC wards are overseen by, and have candidates selected by, neighbouring associations, for example, Mole Valley.

One concern for GCA, following the claims that processes have not been correctly followed, is that other unsuccessful candidates will also lodge appeals.

Cllrs Rooth and Illman declined to comment.

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