Archives for April 2011

My new-style page on the BBC News website

They say a change is as good as a rest.

So for regular readers, here's a new address for you. My View from the Trent blog in its current form is ending, and is moving to a much improved home.

It'll be found on a new-look page on the BBC News site.

It will feature all the material and features you've been used to from my blog on the political scene from Westminster and closer to home in the East Midlands.

Here's the link to the new page.

The new photograph is pretty scary, but I hope the features and political background stories will continue to keep you posted.

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At Leicester's Walkers Stadium, the former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson certainly knows his football tactics and the mind games involved in selecting his best eleven players for Leicester City.

But imagine having to chose just ONE out of a team of eleven to put Leicester at the top of a different league table. That's the challenge facing the voters in this city.

Labour's Sir Peter Soulsby is one of eleven candidates wanting to be chosen as Leicester's first ever directly elected mayor. He stood down as one of the city's MPs to enter the mayoral race. But why would an ambitious politician - elected to Parliament - want to return to local town hall politics?

"Leicester will be the largest city outside London to have an elected mayor, and it'll be an even bigger job and challenge than being an MP," he told me.

"That challenge now is to secure the right conditions for the economy to create the jobs and prosperity of the future. And that requires partnership working. The role of the mayor is the key."

So the voters of Leicester will be deciding on the person to run the city council for the next four years and its annual budget of £1bn.

The Conservative Party candidate is city councillor Ross Grant. If he wins, he's to hold a referendum on whether the people of Leicester actually want a mayor. He argues it's a vote Labour denied the city, even if that means he could be booted out of office.

"There's a real problem of one person having so much power and just using it in a way that many people wouldn't agree with. There doesn't seem to be any checks and balances in place," he says.

Mayor Tony Egginton - the only directly elected Mayor left in the Midlands

It was such concerns that led the voters of Stoke-on-Trent to scrap the whole system in a referendum three years ago, despite being the first city in the Midlands to opt for an elected Mayor. Now Mansfield's Tony Egginton, an Independent, is the only directly elected Mayor left in the Midlands. He's seeking a third term in office.

Businessman Rick Moore is standing as a non-party independent in Leicester. A city magistrate and a development consultant, he's an influential business leader.

"As someone who's never been involved in politics, I think a brand new approach is needed in this city. We need to re-engage with business."

The Lib Dem's mayoral candidate Gary Hunt is also highlighting the importance of promoting business. Much of the city's smaller enterprises supply the bigger high street clothing stores and he wants more council contracts awarded to local businesses.

"Most of our contracts with the city council are given out to multi-national companies and we can change that by giving it to local business and that would create jobs," he says.

This mayoral contest is certainly making news. I met a group of Leicester youngsters who produce a newspaper called The Wave. They've got an exclusive... an interview with the youngest mayoral candidate, an 18 year-old A-Level student Mu-Hamid Pathan. He already represents Leicester in the UK Youth Parliament and is also standing an an independent.

"I want to attract the young people in the 18 to 25 age group who don't usually go out to vote. I want them to feel part of the political system. They feel disenfranchised."

What's not clear for the voters is the mayoral salary that goes with the job. It may be around £65,000, which is in line with an MP's annual wage. But that has yet to be decided, and that's likely to become another issue in this fascinating election.

*Listen to BBC Radio Leicester's live mayoral debate next Wednesday - 13 April - from 7pm and on BBC One for the East Midlands, on Thursday after Question Time.

Here's the full list of candidates:

Regine Anderson, UKIP
David Bowley, Independent
Farma Mohinder, United for Peace & Socialism
Geoff Forse, Green Party
Ross Grant, Conservative Party
Gary Hunt, Liberal Democrat
Rick Moore, Independent
Nima Patel, Independent
Mu-Hamid Pathan, Independent
Sir Peter Soulsby, Labour Party
Lee Sowden, Independent

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Labour Leader Ed Miliband with partner Justine Thornton and their second child Samuel Miliband

But it'll soon be opening its doors to welcome the Labour leader Ed Miliband with fraternal... and matrimonial greetings in May.

He's to marry Justine Thornton, his long term partner and mother of his young two children. She was brought up in south Nottinghamshire and chose Langar Hall for the wedding. It's not far from Nottingham and the home where she was brought up.

A very modern marriage - Ed Miliband and partner Justine Thornton

But what exactly can they expect? Langar Hall is smart. The 19th Century house was built on the site of a former medieval castle. It specialises in low key weddings. But you can't get much higher profile politically than the nuptials of a new Labour party leader.

The couple will be in good company since former guests have included the movie actress Keira Knightley, the Archbishop of Canterbury and a visiting English cricket team for previous Trent Bridge Test Matches.

Langar's owner Imogen Skirving is delighted the couple have chosen her hideaway.

"When you come down the avenue of lime trees to the hall, you are in a completely other world. This is a little island of tranquillity," she says.

The wedding is likely to be small scale. Langar's manager Pascal Bouyssounouse will have the job of making sure the couple have their special day.

"They want the occasion to be a small family event. So we'll work with their plans for it to be more private and intimate," he said.

There'll be around 50 guests at the wedding... with probably twice as many reporters and photographers outside.

And like the Royal Wedding, finalising that wedding guest list may turn out to be something of a political headache.

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