Muck and Brass (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
What: Full Meeting of South Somerset District Council Where: Council Offices, Brympton Road, Yeovil When: 07:40pm 19hth November 2009 Item 6. Items for discussion Appointment of temporary councillors (to Somerton Town Council) Ian Clark (District Solicitor and Monitoring Officer): "This ( the appointment of temporary councillors ) is one part of a number of things that we are doing to help Somerton...
Muck and Brass (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009
The notice below has been placed in the Parish Noticeboard outside the Parish Rooms. This notice informs Somerton that if the community of Somerton want to avoid another raft of co-opted councillors then Somerton needs to request an election. 10 electors of Somerton must request an election by the 25th of November. Do not leave this up to everyone else. Write your letter requesting an election and...
The Wardman Wire (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
Local Bloggers are beginning to produce a few good examples of effective scrutiny of Local Councils. In this piece David Keen , who is a Vicar in Yeovil and writes regularly for my Wardman Wire political site, gives an account of a local controversy in the Somerset town of Somerton, which has lead to a number of resignations from the Town Council. Further, some national commentators are beginning...
St. Aidan to Abbey Manor (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
Drat, I go away for a few days break, and Somerset springs to life. Somerton is about 12 miles north of Yeovil, nice little place, with plenty of character, and some good local churches. Last week most of the town council walked out. Why? Initial reports suggested that it was all the work of one lone local blog (Muck & Brass), and that they'd got fed up with his criticism of the council. Some of...
Carmarthenshire Planning Problems (Free subscription) | 03/11/2009
I must briefly mention a recent story that came to my attention. Nearly all the members of a town council in Somerton, Somerset have resigned, allegedly because of continued and seemingly valid criticism by a local blogger. It illustrates nicely the power of the internet in focussing public discontent and the growing difficulties for politicians/authorities at either local or national level, to avoid...
PR company in Peterborough | Media Matters PR Blog |... (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
A few weeks ago I talked about the benefits of blogging and pointed out a BT employee who let a critical blog get the better of him. Well last week, a town council went one better and resigned – all because of an offending blog! The majority of councillors representing Somerton, a quiet market town in rural Somerset, walked out of last week’s council meeting and promptly resigned, refusing...
Talk about Newsnight (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
It is fascinating how the features of modern-day Westminster politics have permeated down to deepest Somerset. In the small town of Somerton, where I was filming on Friday, 11 members of the 14-strong town council - all independents - have suddenly resigned their seats. That leaves only three councillors to run the show, and one of those plans to resign as well, which technically leaves the council...
thoughts of oscar (Free subscription) | 31/10/2009
No, I am not talking about Conwy Councillors, 11 councillors have resigned from Somerton council, in Somerset due to pressure from a local blogger, hilarious if you ask me that they can be so peach skinned, they put themselves up for public office, therefore have put themselves up for feedback. This blog has had it's fair share of criticism from the various people that it has shown up, but like the...
a multi-tasking dilettante (Free subscription) | 31/10/2009
Flicking through the channels one popular news programme caught my eye, or to be more accurate, my ear.BBC 2's popular Newsnight program was featuring a blogger who had 'brought down a council'."Interesting" I thought to myself, not realising that this story was set in a town where I used to live.Somerton, which was once the capital of the kingdom of Wessex is now a small town in Somerset,...
Dan Essex (Free subscription) | 30/10/2009
I enjoyed this story doing the rounds in the media today about goings on in Somerset. It seems the councillors of Somerton Town Council could take no more of the sniping of a local blogger - and resigned en masse from the council in protest! Local resident Niall Connelly has been writing on his 'Muck & Brass' blog since 2006 about what he saw as secrecy and incompetence within the town council....
The Final Redoubt (Free subscription) | 30/10/2009
Or... the don't like it up 'em in Zummerzet ... A town council has disbanded after members staged a mass walkout in protest at being constantly criticised by a lone internet blogger. Eleven of the 15 members on Somerton Town Council, in Somerset, resigned after being subjected to three years of online abuse. Perhaps they could get him to concentrate on the Labour government instead. It must be terrible...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 30/10/2009
Eleven of Somerton's 15 councillors walk out after being called 'jackasses' by Muck & Brass website Eleven out of 15 councillors in a Somerset local authority have resigned "en masse" in protest against a barrage of criticism from a blogger, it emerged today. Some 11 members of Somerton council's complement of 15 stepped down on Tuesday. The walkout came after blogger Niall Connolly...
Eastcliff Richard (Free subscription) | 30/10/2009
I'm indebted to reader Joshua for pointing the old Eastcliff eyeball in the direction of a story that appeared on the BBC News website yesterday. Apparently 11 out of the 15 councillors in Somerton, Somerset have cashed in their chips following a campaign by a local blogger. According to the Beeb: On his Muck&Brass blog Niall Connolly called members 'jackasses' and said a leaflet was 'like a Nazi...
Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check (Free subscription) | 30/10/2009
Cyberpolarization on a local level'… Councillors in a rural town have staged a mass walkout after becoming fed up with criticism from a blogger. Ex-vice chairman Anthony Canvin said 11 of Somerton Town Council's 15 members resigned at a meeting on Tuesday. BBC NEWS | UK | England | Somerset | Blog sparks mass council walkout
Muck and Brass (Free subscription) | 09/10/2009
With the imminent election in Somerton, it is useful to consider the relationship between ourselves, the electorate, and our elected representatives. It seems to be a common view in Somerton (and probably across the country) that once a member of the electorate casts their vote, their job is done. They have voted, discharged their responsibilities and now its up to those elected to get on with the...
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