Politics

Private Eye exposes Tory councillors who voted through lucrative property development then stepped down

A sinister twist on the Canterbury Tales has been uncovered by the Private Eye magazine.

According to the publication, the depths of the Tory cronyism crises extend far beyond the walls of Number 10 Downing Street.

Indeed, so engrained has the party’s ‘boys club’ mentality become that it has extended to local councils, where unscrupulous leaders have been outed for being less than up-front about their dealings.

Reports suggest that Canterbury Council’s former leader, Ben Fitter-Harding, had an active role in green-lighting the development of 100 new homes on the land of an estate owned by his personal friend and once fellow councillor, Louise Jones-Roberts.

Jones-Roberts stands to net £20 million from the completed scheme, which was voted through at a recent meeting of the council.

Both Jones-Roberts and her councillor husband Matthew stepped down at the May elections.

As Private Eye puts it, they must have thought “job done”.

Related: Jonathan Gullis wants to make Stoke the UK’s answer to Silicon Valley

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Published by