One of London’s first openly gay borough mayors has been suspended amid accusations of bullying. Marc Cranfield-Adams, the mayor of Richmond Borough, has been accused by a staff member of bullying and failing to treat someon with respect. He has now been found guilty on both charges.
A council leader in Carmarthenshire has waded into the debate about drugs by declaring her belief that heroin should be legal. Meryl Gravell OBE said the town of Llanelli was plagued by heroin-related deaths and that they had to make radical changes. She said: “"If they are made legal, then there is no case of people wanting what they can't have, and the drug dealers can't make any money out of it."
Council meetings in Lewisham are to be broadcast live on the internet after a campaign led by a local Councillor. Green Party leader Councillor Darren Johnson demanded that the Mayor of Lewisham put changes in place to allow local residents to access the council meetings free of charge over the internet. He said: “Putting our meetings online will make us all more accessible to busy residents with work commitments, childcare and caring duties, as well as those with disabilities.”
A Leicester politician has won the ‘Online councillor of the year’ award at a think tanks’ inaugural awards. Ross Grant is the leader of the Conservatives on Leicester City Council and won the award for his use of social networking site Twitter. The Local Government information Unit (LGiU) awards are handed out to ‘unsung heroes’ working across Britain. Mr Grant said of Twitter: “It has certainly broadened my horizons and allowed me to take a range of views on different ideas I have.”