Former South Yorkshire Police Press Officer Gillian Radcliffe will be standing as an Independent candidate in the PCC elections in November.
Her website is http://www.gillianradcliffe4pcc.com/
This could become interesting if the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats decide not to field candidates, Wright might be wishing he had not listened to his so called mates in the Labour Group.
In the other interesting race to remove Stone and Akhtar, Lakin and Hussain continue to lead the field to become the next Leader and Deputy.
Some of the current Cabinet are becoming increasingly concerned about their positions and the subsequent loss of their bloated allowances following the post election Cabinet re-shuffle, hence certain Cabinet Members going out of their way to promote Lakin via their social networking sites.
Following the Bradford spring, Respect have been in town getting a feel for the wards that would be most receptive to their message, Rotherham East and West could be the first to fall.
Peter Baker
For more information about Shaun Wright: The Shaun Wright Files , if you wonder why Rotherham Politics thinks that this deeply flawed individual should not be successful in his quest, should read this about Shaun Wright’s disgraceful behaviour whilst Deputy Mayor, Conduct Unbecoming?
Rotherham Politics 
Good luck to Gillian- hope she wins! And I hope Respect do knock Labour off their perch, Roth East best place to start.
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Couldn’t agree more! Readers might like a quick look at this, http://www.respectparty.org/
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Not too sure about that, I’m all for open competition but got a funny feeling about the Respect Party. Imagine they win a seat or more here in rotherham and then the national media flood in to get Galloway’s smug feline face. Would that be a good portrayal of our town?
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Respect are a divisive bunch. Saying different things on different doorsteps and dividing communities. Rotherham had a bad reputation by voting BNP why try and make this any worse by voting for this lot? Truth be told, they’ll never get enough seats to bother the entrenched Labour mafia, bit like a gnat biting a carthorse, annoying but easily swatted.
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You could be right, Terry and Cas. We don’t really need anymore divisions in Rotherham, seems the ones in THT are more than enough.
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That’s just the the thing Omar, we really don’t need any more divisions and we all should all stand against wackpots such as Galloway and especially the man with a pea for a brain (Griffin).
But also think that more people should be participating in elections to make our local democracy more healthy; a good example of this is yourself Omar and how you joined in this year’s election with the MRLP.
One of the major problems we face as a country is that party’s like respect play up to and target one section of society e.g the muslim community.
And then we have vile disgusting, ill-educated, on border line inbreds in the form of the BNP and The EDL, these go a far way into harrasing and targeting minorities especially muslims, then spreading mis-leading propaganda and try their best to segregate society.
I know many muslims already are proud to be british/english; but there are still many out there who feel slighty reluctant to be a 100% proud to be british/english because the latter (EDL/BNP/RESPECT) all contribute to putting upartificial barriers and try and influence society as a whole even into the media where we focus on the differences rather than the similarities.I believe all of us regardless the creed,colour or sex should all be unified under st georges flag/ union flag. I think Team GB is a current possitive representation of this.
It is now somewhat unwritten in society that you have to be proud to be English or Muslim but not both. I Believe you shouldn’t have to chose one or the other, it is possible to be both. And I know to somewhat extent Labour aren’t at times popular on this Blog but I think Labour go the greatest length out of any party to including all Britons regardless of their creed, colour or sex.
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Completely agree, Terry. I’m proud to be an English Muslim. And as Benazir Bhutto once said ‘Islam and democracy are not incompatible and the clashes between Islam and the West do not have to be inevitable’.
Unfortunately, I also believe New Labour’s pandering to extremists and over political-correctness has contributed to the BNP’s popularity, which I resent them for. But looking at the bigger picture, we don’t need Galloway or his party to make the situation worse.
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Totally right Omar, couldn’t agree more and glad to hear it. And I agree that mistakes were made during ‘new labours’ goverment (e.g. appeasing to extremists and ridiculous PC) and your right this is one of the main factors that contributed to the rise of these vermin. Labour have admitted their mistakes but still have a long way to go.
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Terry Tibbs is just a screen name so thought I would share along with my real name.
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I knew that lot would be sniffing around. Galloway is more obnoxious than Nick Griffin.
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How can anyTHING be more obnoxious and vile than that neo-Nazi??! I know some people don’t like Galloway but comparing him to Griffin is a massive insult to everyone who loathes Griffin.
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*loathes him for the right reasons. I.e. attacking people’s religious beliefs.
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No one can be more obnoxious than Griffin but I would agree Galloway is as obnoxious.
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Terry, thanks for your comment, fear brevity in previous comment may be capable of misinterpretation.
A point of clarification: Rotherham Politics is all for a free and open democracy but have no respect for ‘Gorgeous George’ Galloway, we have long memories.
The more choice the voters have at election time the better! Respect’s potential involvement in electoral politics in Rotherham is to be welcomed, as competition will engage the electorate and drive up the turnout.
Labour’s miss-rule must be challenged by anyone prepared to ‘step up to the plate’ and at least Respect is not racist!
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Sorry Rothpol, but they are seen to be so by a great number of people. I was made personally aware of what they were actually saying on doorsteps in Bradford. Galloway is known for picking out predominantly immigrant areas, in the same way that the BNP does. Respect is dangerous!!!!!
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Rothpol believes in letting the voters decide. Labour’s leaden control in Rotherham, is the product of apathy not support.
Therefore anything, that might shake the voters out of their torpor, surely must be broadly welcomed!
I would also point out that Respect are not the only con merchants on the doorstep, Labour are past masters at it!
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Couldn’t have put it better myself Rothpol, My concerns mainly rest upon the opportunistic Galloway.
But totally agree with you that they’re should definitley be more competition in the Borough. This is I would say the reason why one party has a majority here because, the main opposition ‘the torys’ are more lifeless than a graveyard, the BNP had their ’15 moments of fame’ but it wasn’t long for the electorate to uncover these Nazi wannabe’s, the lib dems are as active in fighting here as the french was to the germans in 1940.
UKIP show they’re face now and then especially in the letters page in the advertiser but haven’t proved to be a real threat. so there has to bereal and enthusiastic opposition to make democracy healthy.
Your right that the respect party aren’t racist but they for some reason definitley prey on areas with high level of Muslims.
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nowt wrong wiv labour cocker lol
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I agree the respect party are a one man party whose single policy is of being against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and it’s popularity is singularly attributed to the enigmatic George who is a master at playing to the crowds.
I wouldn’t go far as saying they are same as the BNP but they do pander to some wackos who believe everyone is against them.
So please let’s leave the Respect party in Bradford as we have got enough nutters of our own.
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Hope the Advertiser will give as much benign coverage for Ms Radcliffe as it has given to Cllr Wright
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Thanks very much for everyone’s comments. It’s going to be a tough run as I don’t have the resources or foot soldiers of party political candidates. I’m going to give it my best shot though. I will be relocating from my current home in London up to South Yorkshire over the next few weeks and then organising some local meetings and other opportunities to get out and meet people. If anyone wants to get involved to give me a bit of practical support, then please drop me a line at gillian4PCC@hotmail.co.uk and I’ll get back to you.
I’ll be posting my manifesto on the website over the next few days to explain my priorities. Of course, these will no doubt develop as I speak to more individuals and organisations in South Yorkshire but I have some clear ideas about where I’d want to focus my efforts in the first year.
I’m doing this because, after almost a quarter of a century working in the criminal justice field and the broader public sector, I feel I know something about how to bring people together to solve problems. At the end of the day, most of us want the same outcomes: protection of the vulnerable; the knowledge that the police can work actively to prevent and respond to crime and other dangers; and sustaining neighbourhoods that feel safe and harmonious.
I’m aiming for a clean fight, focussing on the issues and my ability to deliver results. I’m prepared to move home and spend my savings to put myself forward for the role because I care about policing and I care about South Yorkshire.
I look forward to meeting some of you on the campaign trail over the next couple of months. Until then, thanks again for the mention on your site.
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Gillian, please let us know on this website where we are able to meet up with you to discuss the roll of Independent PCC as I feel there are many of us who would like to know more about your views.
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This was on the Top of the Cops blog by Sam Chapman, interesting.
Senior Judge bans magistrates from PCC role
Posted on 08/08/2012
Anyone wondering how Police and Crime Commissioners are going to be welcomed by the judiciary may be best advised to think in terms of pork pies and bar mitzvahs.
That at least is the message one picks up from JO Circular AC (5) 2012 issued at the end of last week by the Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales, the Rt. Hon Lord Justice Goldring.
The circular is for magistrates who are considering standing for election as a PCC, or planning to take part in a PCC election campaign, or who intend to apply to become a member of a Police and Crime Panel. Wiltshire Conservatives’ Angus Macpherson JP, Cambridgeshire UKIP candidate Paul Bullen JP and who knows how many others need to take note.
The message is a fairly simple one.
Judges are disqualified from being elected as PCCs, but the law does not prevent Magistrates from standing, so Lord Justice Goldring has decided that he will stop them from standing. “Magistrates who wish to stand for election, upon announcement of their intention to do so, should resign immediately.”
If they just want to participate actively, whatever that means (leafleting?), they should take a leave of absence. They should not hold meetings with PCC candidates.
If you do resign to run for election, you are still not free – “former magistrates should be highly circumspect when describing their bench careers.”
The justification for this is twofold –
1) It’s going to be highly political. (You know, like Solicitor General, Attorney General and Lord Chancellor – clearly offices we could never give to a politician. Oh, wait.)
2) “it would be inappropriate for a judicial office holder to hold an office which has an oversight and leadership role in respect of Police Forces, or to participate in an election campaign for such a role.” (Which neatly misses the fact that until recently magistrates by law were a significant proportion of Police Authorities membership, and that members of the bench are Councillors, MPs, etc).
If you are a magistrate who doesn’t want to be a PCC, but would like to sit on a Police and Crime Panel, then tough. Lord Goldring is directing you to resign. With about 600+ panel members across the country made up of fairly active citizens, this is not going to go down well.
Ironically, the form of judicial independence defended in this direction seems so extreme as to in itself constitute a political statement. This is not merely rules. This is message. And it’s a message which needs to be reconsidered.
I can hardly wait till the day when we can elect our judges.
Top of the Cops blog ends.
So Wright resigns as a JP, leaves his job at BMBC, hands his ward over to Darren (the Tory) Hughes and the race is between Gillian Radcliffe and Shaun Wright, Tory and Liberal Democrats vote for the Independent and out goes Wright.
The continued talk within THT is that Wright has been set up to fail, some Members have suggested he might wish to stand down and protect what he has got, job, secure income etc.
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Peter “Baker”
I think it’s quite obvious you are no fan of Shaun Wright but don’t insult our intelligence with the diatribe about having an inside track about the goings within the Labour party.
I have spoken to quite a few people in the know and they tell me you are so off the mark about Shaun and your somewhat fanciful and outrageous conspiracy theories are a load of hogwash.
They also tell me you are running a personal vendetta against Shaun because of something that went off between you two in the Council chamber a couple of years ago. Ring any bells ?
Your last paragraph about” continued talk in THT” is a further example of the make believe world you have created because Shaun does not need to resign as a Councillor, even if he was successful in getting elected as the PCC.
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Oh I remember paying a visit to Town Hall Towers to see our overpaid Corn Fed Grunters, Muppets and Clowns in action and was astounded to see that during the supposed dignified proceedings a certain Cllr who now has desperate aspirations to become our Police and Crime Commissioner held up a hastily scrawled piece of paper with the words “LOSER” writ large.
This piece of juvenile buffoonery was while my then Elected Member, Cllr Peter Thirlwall, was pressing the assembled Laybah Bruvvaz-n-Sistaz for an answer that they clearly weren’t willing to give.
When protests were made from the public gallery and the Official Opposition the plumless oaf with PCC pretensions shiftily hidded the paper away, the Mayor said she was unaware of the behaviour (Nelson’s eye?), Da Dodger displayed his usual inactive style of Leedahship … and the business continued.
There sure is a need for “Respect” here in Rovrum, but I’m not sure we need it in the form of Gawjus George and his crew of misfits – we’ve already got a Laybah bunch of em 🙂
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I would be interested to learn what Shaun Wright thinks about the analysis undertaken by the party into the impact of the Supplementary Voting System to be used in the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections, or has someone failed to share this little gem with him?
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I doubt he’d understand it anway to be fair
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Could be fun. I notice our own Rainbow Warrior is supporting the Independent candidate according to information received from a Faceook contact Presumably Gillian will be getting herself on to the Electors List for somewhere in South Yorkshire. Not much choice so far, is there, a dodgy councillor and a spin doctor
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