‘Your Administration is Unaccountable’ Says Resigning Tory to Council Leader

Published on: 21 Feb, 2019
Updated on: 21 Feb, 2019

Cllrs Paul Spooner and Nils Christiansen

Another Tory borough councillor has resigned and declared himself an Independent.

Yesterday (February 20, 2019), Nils Christiansen became the fourth councillor to quit his party following Tony Rooth, Bob McShee and Colin Cross. Cllr Christiansen told the Dragon this morning: “I haven’t had any discussions with the Independent Alliance at this stage.” It is understood that they have previously made overtures.

Nils Christiansen’s resignation letter

His resignation will not affect the dominance of the Conservatives at the council: the party standings will now be Conservatives 31, Lib Dems 8, Independents 4, GGG 3, Labour 2.

Nor is his defection a surprise. He has been clearly unhappy since his deselection last year as a Holy Trinity ward candidate, which appeared to some to be a punishment for his independent stance on some local issues and his apparent discontent with the leadership style.

Since his deselection, he has publicly criticised what he described as the “patronage” employed to maintain party discipline within the Tory group.

An ardent Remainer, Cllr Christiansen has become disillusioned with the Conservative party’s stance nationally, as well as locally, as his resignation letter shows.

He writes: “The Conservative party of today has become consumed by its own internal fissures, and seems interested only in retaining power for power’s sake. There is no unifying vision or set of values at national or local level, other than a desperate desire to stay in power and keep the party together.”

Yesterday’s resignations from the Conservative Party at Westminster may have been the catalyst for Cllr Christiansen’s decision, but his criticism of Paul Spooner’s council leadership and local policies is stinging. “Locally, your administration is unaccountable, abuses the patronage inherent in a ‘strong leader’ model of governance, and has shown no vision for the future of our successful and beautiful town, other than building soulless housing estates in the green belt.”

Unless he now has a change of heart it is not expected that Nils Christiansen will stand as an Independent in May. When deselected he said: “…I am now looking forward to taking a break to re-focus on my young family and career”.

An announcement posted by Nils Christiansen on the Conservative Holy Trinity Ward Facebook page last night is reported to have been taken down.

This is Cllr Christiansen’s letter in full…

Dear Paul,

Resignation

It is with great regret that I feel compelled to tender my resignation from the Conservative party. My values have always been those of a one-nation Conservative, and I have felt at home in a “broad church” party from the days of economic rejuvenation under Margaret Thatcher, to the modernisation and social rejuvenation under David Cameron. Whilst there have always been differences of opinion, I used to feel that certain core beliefs bound us Conservatives together. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case.

The Conservative party used to be pragmatic, democratic, and believe in the importance of a strong economy and strong international alliances. Above all, it recognised the importance of the political middle ground. The Conservative party of today has become consumed by its own internal fissures, and seems only interested in retaining power for power’s sake.

“There is no unifying vision or set of values at national or at local level, other than a desperate desire to stay in power and keep the party together. What was once a mass-membership national party has become dominated locally by unrepresentative sections of the community who are so few in number that elected members are almost self-selected, and taken over nationally by extremists who would previously have been more at home in UKIP. By moving away from its historic core values, the party has abandoned more moderate people like me.

At a national level, I believe the government is forcing the country down the hardest of Brexits in the name of ideological purity, with no concern for the impact this will have on jobs, national security, social cohesion, or on the integrity of our United Kingdom. Locally, your administration is unaccountable, abuses the patronage inherent in a “strong leader” model of governance, and has shown no vision for the future of our successful and beautiful town, other than building soulless housing estates in the green belt.

Our town and our country both deserve so much better. Although a lifelong Conservative, I have felt for a while now that our current party system does not properly reflect the divisions in our modern society. The events of the past few days have filled me with hope that a political change for the better is now both possible and imminent.

I will continue to work hard for the wonderful residents of Holy Trinity ward whom I have represented since I was elected 4 years ago, but I will do so henceforth as an Independent member of the council.

Yours sincerely,

Nils Christiansen

Responses to ‘Your Administration is Unaccountable’ Says Resigning Tory to Council Leader

John Redpath Reply

February 21, 2019 at 8:47 am

It is brilliant that Nils Christiansen is on trend.

I do hope he will stand as an Independent in Christchurch Ward at the next elections. We must return balance to the council chamber again.

John Redpath is a prospective Independent candidate for the borough council elections in May.
A Atkinson Reply

February 21, 2019 at 10:32 am

I don’t know Cllr Christiansen but what I have observed of him in the chamber, he is exactly what “politics” needs – a real person first, politician second and party man third. We need less “career” politicians who “need” to sit on as many committees, councils, boards, bodies, executives (ideally as chairs/leads) as possible purely to control power and expedite their own political “career”.

There is a clear sense that tribal politics is putting our country on the brink of a multi-generational disaster, and those who put party before people should hang their heads in shame.

Well done Mr Christiansen. It comes as no surprise. He has said what many other people have been saying because he is a person first, and above all, rather than a puppet of the political parties.
Jules Cranwell Reply

February 21, 2019 at 1:40 pm

Another Tory councillor so sidelined by this leadership, that he has concluded he can best serve his constituents from outside this discredited party.

Nils is a decent man, who always placed the needs of residents before party loyalty.

Unfortunately, this meant he did not fit under this leadership, which requires blind obedience.

It seems the Tories locally are suffering an exodus of their most talented councillors, as they are also suffering at national level.

Long may this continue, and perhaps we can see democracy restored in Guildford.
John Perkins Reply

February 22, 2019 at 9:34 am

I have only met Cllr Christiansen once very briefly, but have also watched him in the chamber and been impressed. He is exactly the sort of man needed for the job and it will be a great loss if he doesn’t stand again.

It may be that the Conservative group remains completely in control of the council, but his resignation from the group changes the committee seat allocations which must be addressed at the next full council meeting in April or sooner.

Whether or not Cllr Christiansen joins another group, the Conservatives must still give up the two seats which have been allocated to him. GBC can choose to repeat the fiasco of last July which ended in the Conservative group holding a number of seats contrary, in my view, to the law that governs this or repeat the October and December allocations, which were also, I believe, illegitimate. Or perhaps for once, it can choose to obey the law and allocate the seats fairly and properly.

The monitoring officer at GBC has opined that the allocation carried out by the council was in accordance with the law. Ed
- John Perkins Reply
  
  February 24, 2019 at 1:24 am
  
  Perhaps the monitoring officer could explain how the allocations comply with paragraph 15(5)(c) of the Local Government Act which requires the seats on committees to be in the same proportion as that of the group to authority.
  
  Marking his own homework is not good enough.