Jackie Weaver has given her support to government proposals in the levelling up white paper that could lead to an increase in the number of parish councils.

www.room151.co.uk 

Weaver, who gained overnight fame in February 2021 when her attempt to control an unruly online meeting of Handforth Parish Council went viral, told Room151 that, as larger local authorities contract, “there is only one thing that can fill the gap – and that is parish councils”.

She described parish and town councils as “hyper-localism”, adding: “It’s your parish council that really understands what is happening locally. I don’t think that happens at district or county level. It’s your parish council that will know what the interests are within that area.”

The levelling up white paper promises a review of neighbourhood governance in England that will examine the roles and functions of parish councils in England and discuss how to make them quicker and easier to establish.

Weaver, chief officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, will be discussing the issue of levelling up at Room151’s Local Authority Treasurers Investment Forum (LATIF) North conference taking place in Leeds on 22 March.

The footage from the Handforth meeting did not present a flattering picture of the lowest tier of local government, so why does Weaver think there should there be more parish councils?

“Most people will recognise that one of the reasons that went viral was because it is exceptional. If you saw something like that every month at your parish council meeting, would you even give it two seconds of your time? The criticism of most council sessions wouldn’t be that they are violent and aggressive, but they are dull.

“If you think that you have ineffective and dull council meetings, then do something about it. That is the beauty of your town or parish council. It is the intimacy and the immediacy of it. If you don’t like it, get in there and change it.”

A report last year from the centre-right thinktank Onward said that every neighbourhood should have a parish or town council. It estimated that currently 63% of England does not have this type of governance and called for automatic ballots of voters in these areas to test the views of local people.

Weaver said she had doubts about going this far. “I would prefer this to be community-led. The difficulty is if you create a parish council and there is really no appetite for it locally, then you are just creating another level of bureaucracy that probably isn’t going to be terribly effective.”

She said she wanted to use her unexpected fame to widen the general public’s knowledge and awareness of local government. The day before Weaver spoke to Room151, she had appeared on Good Morning Britain and the weekend before had come second in Celebrity Mastermind and taken part in two live comedy shows.

“I’m trying to find different ways of raising the subject because we have to reach a different audience. The things we have done before – newsletters, websites – are managing to hit the same targets as we have always hit. I want to break out of that and engage with different people.”

The Metropolitan police decided initially to not investigate allegations of lockdown-breaching parties in and around Downing Street in part because no one had admitted taking part and there was no social media footage, a legal document has shown.

And: “Downing Street… have already stated that Covid rules were followed”

Politics Live

In a response by legal campaign group the Good Law Project for a judicial review about the Met’s decision in early December to not launch an inquiry, the police force’s lawyers pointed to guidelines saying it did not investigate Covid breaches retrospectively, given their relatively minor nature and limited resources.

At the time the first decision was made, any details about the gatherings were “fairly vague”, the document said, detailing the reasons given by a senior officer, whose named has been redacted.

The officer, it said:

…. observed that the press reports did not identify who had been at the gatherings, no one had come forward to admit presence at any of the gatherings, and there was no evidence from social media showing these gatherings taking place, and from which those present could be identified.

It followed that if these events had taken place, the organisers could not be identified from the material available to the police at that time and nor could [the officer] draw any conclusions as to whether the gatherings breached the Covid regulations, and if so, whether those present at the gatherings had no reasonable excuse for their presence at the gatherings.

The force changed its mind last month, and is investigating the claims. But Jo Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, said the reasons were “profoundly troubling”.

He said:

It points to a Met that does not want to investigate potential criminality in government or is excessively deferential to those in power.

Revealed: why the Met chose not to investigate Partygate – Good Law Project

goodlawproject.org 

We are today publishing our Grounds for seeking a judicial review of the Metropolitan Police’s initial refusal to investigate the Downing Street lockdown parties, and the Met’s response. The Met had previously insisted that some of the contents of these documents be kept confidential, but we are now publishing them.

We can reveal that the Met had an unpublished policy of not “normally” investigating retrospective lockdown breaches. However, where “not investigating… would significantly undermine the legitimacy of the law” that would point towards investigating.

The Met’s decision not to investigate is difficult to understand. It is hard to avoid concluding that the Met decided it didn’t want to investigate, and then scrambled to reverse engineer a justification for this.

Their justification is itself remarkable. It includes reference to the fact that:

• “Downing Street… have already stated that Covid rules were followed”
• “anyone who was at the gathering would be entitled to refuse to answer questions because of the privilege against self-incrimination”
• because the Cabinet Office was looking into possible breaches there was no need for the Met to investigate as well.

These are extraordinary points. They create a different set of laws for those in high office.

The Met would not accept your assurance that you hadn’t committed a crime. It would not refuse to ask you questions because of the privilege against self-incrimination. And it would certainly not decline to investigate you because you had appointed a subordinate to look into the matter instead. Yet these are all allowances gifted to the Government. 

Moreover, as the policy itself highlights, some reported breaches of the law potentially undermine the legitimacy of the law itself. It is difficult to imagine a clearer example of this than government officials, potentially including the Prime Minister, breaching the rules.

All of this is profoundly troubling. It points to a Met that does not want to investigate potential criminality in Government, or to a police force that is excessively deferential to those in power. It is a policy which dramatically undermines the rule of law.

Good Law Project is considering whether or not to continue with the judicial review. We wanted the Met to reconsider its decision not to investigate and, after we issued judicial review proceedings, the Met did just that. We believe it is in the public interest to have real transparency over the Met’s decision making, and the publication of those pleadings with this blog serves that end. 

We will make a final decision shortly.

The fee would have to be paid by anyone staying in a hotel, self catered apartment or campsite overnight

Ruth Mosalski www.walesonline.co.uk

Plans for a tourism tax for people staying overnight in Wales have taken a step forward.

The Welsh Government has confirmed a consultation will be launched this autumn when details will be released.

The fee would have to be paid by those staying in a council area overnight and would be up to councils to set. The Welsh Government says a tourism tax would raise money for councils to manage services and infrastructure in tourist hotspots.

It is part of Welsh Government policy, agreed through their co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru. Some details had already been detailed by First Minister Mark Drakeford.

Finance and local government minister Rebecca Evans said: “Visitor levies are a common feature in tourist destinations internationally. They are an opportunity for visitors to make an investment in local infrastructure and services, which in turn make tourism a success.

“Without such a levy, local communities face an undue burden to fund local services and provisions on which tourists rely. From keeping the beaches and pavements clean, through to maintaining local parks, toilets and footpaths – the critical infrastructure that supports tourism should be supported by all those that rely on it.

“The introduction and subsequent use of such a levy would enable destinations in Wales to be enjoyed for generations to come and encourage a more sustainable approach to tourism.

“The levy would be proportionate by design, and powers to raise the levy would be discretionary for local authorities. This would enable decisions to be taken locally, according to the needs of our communities. The levy will apply to those paying to stay overnight within a local authority area. Opportunities for wider contributions on the cost impact of other types of visitor activities on local infrastructure will be offered as part of the consultation on the levy.”

Plaid Cymru’s designated member Cefin Campbell MS said: “Giving local people the power to introduce a tourism levy will make a difference to communities across the country, many of which attract a significant number of tourists. It will give local people and their representatives more power and resources to invest and deliver in their areas.

“Councils will be able to ask tourists to contribute in a small way to the areas they are visiting and the local services they use.

“This measure will help support a sustainable rather than an extractive tourism sector, which will help bring the greatest benefit to communities and the local economy.

“Such levies – often known as tourism taxes – are commonplace in countries across Europe and beyond. This is about mutual respect between our communities and the visitors they welcome. It is a new policy which is the fruit of a Welsh co-operative spirit.”

A rare example where development without planning permission has not got through the “retrospective approval” route much exploited in East Devon – Owl

Steven Morris http://www.theguardian.com 

A Cornish beachside hotel that built nine meeting rooms without planning permission claiming they were needed for the G7 summit has been ordered to demolish them because they have caused “very significant harm” to the landscape.

The Carbis Bay hotel built the rooms in three single-storey buildings before hosting last summer’s meeting of world leaders. It said it had pressed ahead without planning permission because of the urgency of the project.

The development led to protest marches on the beach with objectors pointing out that precious habitats and views had been ruined.

There was also anger that the hotel claimed the rooms were needed to provide space to host bilateral G7 talks when the UK government said it had not asked for extra work to be carried out.

The planning inspector Peter Jarratt highlighted objectors’ argument that the development “flew in the face” of the G7’s claimed green credentials.

He said: “There has been a significant public response to the unauthorised development and to the submitted retrospective planning application for reasons including the inappropriateness of the development and to the failure of the applicant to follow the due planning process. Many representations – some 350 to 400 – were received by the council.”

The National Trust, the South West Coast Path Association, the Cornwall branch of the Countryside Charity (CPRE) and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust all submitted objections.

“The construction of the meeting rooms in three single-storey buildings … has significantly and adversely affected the character and appearance of the area,” Jarratt said.

“I have found very significant harm to the character and appearance of the landscape. Although it is to the hotel’s considerable credit that it has hosted the G7 summit and now wishes to adapt the meeting rooms to holiday accommodation, the economic benefits arising from the development, despite attracting significant weight, are insufficient to outweigh the harm to the landscape.”

He upheld an enforcement notice from Cornwall council ordering the development to be removed. It is expected that the bill for the demolition work and restoration of the landscape will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The hotel declined to comment.

Half- term verdict on Simon Jupp: “Simon needs to try harder” ? – Owl

Steve Houghton www.devonlive.com 

Almost one-and-a-half billion fewer pints were sold in British pubs in 2021 than in 2019, according to data from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).

The BBPA said pub beer sales were down 38 per cent in 2021 and there was an on-trade loss of £5.7 billion from beer sales alone – equivalent to 1.4 billion pints.

In 2020, trading was down 55 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels.

BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin said: “Every unsold pint is a stark reminder of the dislocating effect Covid restrictions had on our sector and the communities our pubs sit at the heart of.”

The BBPA also said there had been a shift in consumer consumption patterns. Between March 2020 and October 2021, beer receipts dropped 11 per cent while receipts for wine and spirits rose eight per cent and 13 per cent.

The BBPA attributes the shift to long periods of restriction pub trading, where beer is the most popular drink, and a rise in at-home drinking.

Ms McClarkin said the BBPA backed planned reforms to the alcohol duty system to “incentivise lower-strength products” and “differentiate beer from stronger wine and spirits”.

“I invested because I am sick and tired of [the environment secretary’s] complete refusal to make any decisions which deviate from ‘business as usual’ when we are facing a devastating climate crisis that will lead to the death of millions if we don’t take immediate action.”

[George Eustice survived the reshuffle – Owl]

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

The constituency office of the environment secretary, George Eustice, has been bought by supporters of Insulate Britain, who have donated his rent to a legal fund for activists.

Supporters of the group, which made headlines last year by obstructing major roads and calling on the government to retrofit all British homes to make them energy efficient, formed a coalition of investors.

They acquired the property at 13 Commercial Street, Camborne, Cornwall, last October for £51,000. Since then their company, Cawton Ltd, has received £2,820 in rent from the House of Commons, which has been donated to help pay the legal costs of Insulate Britain defendants in court cases.

Cawton Ltd is an anagram of Act Now – one of the Extinction Rebellion protest group’s three key demands.

Sally Wright, from St Day, in the MP’s Camborne, Redruth and Hayle constituency, said: “I invested because I am sick and tired of [the environment secretary’s] complete refusal to make any decisions which deviate from ‘business as usual’ when we are facing a devastating climate crisis that will lead to the death of millions if we don’t take immediate action.

“I’m glad we are using his rent to pay the fines of the people who are risking their livelihoods, reputations and personal safety to give the rest of us hope that change is possible.”

Insulate Britain said Eustice had taken many actions recently that they disagreed with, including authorising the use of a bee-killing pesticide, and encouraging MPs to vote against an amendment to the environment bill that would have forced water companies to end the practice of dumping untreated sewage into rivers and seas. The government was later forced to U-turn on this after public outrage.

Eustice has previously spoken out against the activists, calling them “highly irresponsible”, and welcomed the powers sought by the Home Office to allow police to act pre-emptively to stop the protests happening.

Since November last year, Insulate Britain says, 28 supporters have been charged with contempt of court for defying injunctions banning their protest blockades during a campaign of civil disobedience last autumn, according to the campaign group. Of these, 25 have been found guilty and 13 have been jailed, with 12 receiving suspended prison sentences. So far, they say, the courts have awarded costs of £84,000 against Insulate Britain defendants, with a further claim of £159,216 from lawyers acting for the government due to be decided next week.

Another investor, Brenda Shrewsbury, 65, from Budock Water, Cornwall, said: “The rent from George’s gaff is tiny compared with the costs faced by the individuals that have been persecuted by the government for demanding action on home insulation, but I hope that this move will inspire others to do what they can. We need to come together and act now on the climate emergency.”

The group has decided to donate future rent money to local food banks and community initiatives to help people hit by the cost of living crisis and facing the choice of whether to heat their homes or eat.

A spokesperson for Eustice said: “We live in a free country and investors are free to invest in property irrespective of their political views. There is no law that requires a landlord and tenant to share the same political opinions.”

An exclusive weekly piece from our top climate crisis correspondents, as well as a digest of the biggest environment stories – plus the good news, the not-so-good news, and everything else you need to know.

We thought you should know this newsletter may also contain information about Guardian products, services and chosen charities or online advertisements.

They’re the only ones to offer it in Devon

Ollie Heptinstall, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Teignbridge’s council tax support scheme, in which those in greatest hardship pay nothing, is set to continue next year.

The district council is one of only 20 per cent of local authorities in the country to offer eligible residents a full discount on their bill, and the only one in Devon.

Councillor Richard Keeling (Lib Dem, Chudleigh), member for corporate resources, this week told a meeting of the council’s ruling executive that it was “not the time to consider cutting support or making other changes to the scheme.”

“Our residents need some stability, and certainly as we emerge from the covid crisis we need the time and a more sustainable baseline to carry out a review of our scheme’s performance, before determining whether we need to make any changes for the future.”

In approving the policy, which will need to be ratified by full council, the executive also agreed to adjust the thresholds to ensure those on the lowest levels of benefits don’t lose out because of an upcoming rise in welfare payments.

A council report explaining the policy stated there were 5,716 working age council tax reduction claimants in December, a slight drop from a peak of almost 6,000 last April.

The cost of the scheme – around £10 million per year – is shared between Teignbridge and the three other major recipients of the council tax: Devon County Council, police and the fire service. Teignbridge contributes just under nine per cent.

It was changed in 2020, introducing an income-based scheme, with overall household income and size used to determine how much discount they are eligible for.

Cllr Keeling said it is “easier for our customers to understand, quicker for our council tax team to administer and better able to cope with minor fluctuations in universal credit entitlement.”

Council leader Alan Connett (Lib Dem, Starcross & Kenton) said he hadn’t realised Teignbridge were “unique in Devon” in still offering the full discount to some households.

He added: “Looking ahead, with the bills that are going to come into people with power, utilities and all rest of it, [the scheme] is going to be a real help.”

When asked how it is promoted to people, an officer said there was more information online and those who phone up the council struggling to pay their bill are also made aware of the help on offer.

In total, directors were paid £1,869,000 during the 18 months to the end of October 2020, with £53,000 paid in pension contributions. Steve Hindley, Midas Chairman, is also Chairman of The Great South West, the “powerhouse” brand which promotes the local enterprise partnership (LEP) areas of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Heart of the South West and Dorset. In 2019, he stepped down as chair of the Heart of the South West LEP, after holding the position since November 2013. 

William Telford www.devonlive.com

A boss at collapsed South West construction giant Midas Group Plc was paid more than half a million pounds while the company was making huge losses, it has emerged.

Accounts for the stricken firm, which is now in administration with the loss of 303 jobs, show the highest-paid director trousered £504,000 in the 18 months to the end of October 2020.

This sum does not include pension contributions so it is likely the director benefited further.

The payment was made in the same 18 months when the company made an after-tax loss of more than £2m.

The highest paid director also pocketed £443,000 in 2019, the group’s annual report and financial statements reveal.

In total, directors were paid £1,869,000 during the 18 months to the end of October 2020, with £53,000 paid in pension contributions.

At the time the directors were chairman Steve Hindley, chief executive Alan Hope, Mike Hocking, and chief commercial officer Scott Poulter, plus finance director Duncan Rogerson, who resigned in July 2019 and was replaced by Michael Ready.

Mr Ready left the company in March 2021 to move to Australia and was replaced by Peter Skoulding.)

Mr Poulter left the company on December 21, 2021, the same day another former finance director, Mr Hocking, also left.

Mr Hocking had been a key figure at Midas since 1998 when he and Mr Hindley, now aged 72, purchased the company in a management buy-in.

Mr Hindley, who led that buy-in, was chairman of the Midas Group up until its administration and is among the most high-profile business figures in the South West.

He is a chartered civil engineer, a fellow of both the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Chartered Institute of Building and a member of RICS.

He was awarded the CBE in the 2006 New Years Honours List for services to the construction industry and appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Devon in 2009.

Mr Hindley graduated from Salford University in 1971, but also received an honorary doctorate of engineering from the University of Exeter in 2011 and an honorary doctorate in business from the University of Plymouth in 2015.

He is the chairman of The Great South West, the “powerhouse” brand which promotes the local enterprise partnership (LEP) areas of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Heart of the South West and Dorset.

The organisation, led by an alliance of business leaders, LEPs, universities, colleges and local government, aims to deliver £45bn of economic benefit and become the leading region for the green and blue economy.

Mr Hindley, who has blamed the Covid pandemic for Midas’ collapse, is also a member of and former chairman of the CBI Construction Council and the SW Regional Council.

In 2019, he stepped down as chair of the Heart of the South West LEP, after holding the position since November 2013.

Mr Hindley, an aficionado of classic cars, has served as a trustee and chairman for the Devon Community Foundation, a trustee of Children’s Hospice South West and was formally on the board of governors at the City of Bristol College.

Midas Group’s chief executive Alan Hope was credited on the firm’s website, before it was shut down by administrators, as having “led Midas’ growth to a £250m-plus pa revenue business” since joining in 2004.

The company said he had driven the group’s restructuring into five “customer facing companies” – Midas Construction Ltd, Midas Retail Ltd, Mi-Space (UK) Ltd, Mi-Space Property Services Ltd, Midas Commercial Developments Ltd, all now in administration – overseen a brand refresh, and launched the new company vision “Leaders in Customer Service and Performance.”

Peter Skoulding, chief finance officer at the time of the firm’s administration, is chartered accountant and was described on the Midas website as having “a track record of sustained strategic, commercial and technical success across diverse sectors”.

Mr Skoulding spent 15 years at Mitie from 2003, holding a variety of finance positions. He left as director of finance planning in early 2018 and held a range of senior finance roles at the publicly listed Smiths News before joining Midas.

Apparently she has one – Owl

HOLD the front pages. It turns out there is something which Boris Johnson could do to make even his most voracious defender turn against him.

The Jouker www.thenational.scot 

But what could possibly be so bad as to make even Nadine Dorries turn on her benevolent leader?

What infraction could be so beyond the pale as to make even the over-promoted beyond belief Dorries throw away her ministerial career for good?

Could it be attending a “bring your own booze” party mid-lockdown?

Could it be lying to parliament about it, as reports have claimed Johnson did?

Could it be having the police investigate the Prime Minister while in office for breaking his own laws?

Could it be breaking manifesto pledge after manifesto pledge, leaving pensioners, nurses, and the world’s most vulnerable people to pick up the pieces?

No. Dorries has stood by Johnson through all of that.

What’s more, Dorries said she would support Johnson even if police found he had been “criminally negligent”.

But what she would not stand for is kicking a dog. That would be a step too far. That would be enough to see even Dorries hang up her ministerial boots.

At least that’s what the Culture Secretary told CNN.

Should that actually come to pass, it seems more likely Dorries would deny there ever was a dog.

Look at her track record. In that same CNN interview Dorries was confronted with the Sue Gray update (the full report is still due).

The host highlighted how Gray had “condemned a failure of leadership in Boris Johnson’s government”.

Dorries replied: “No, she didn’t. She didn’t express a failure of leadership in Boris Johnson’s government at all.”

Mmmmm.

To quote the Sue Gray report: “There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office.”

Which way is up? Dorries will have to check with the Prime Minister before answering that.

“Midas was Teignbridge District Council’s main contractor and also had contracts to build nine affordable homes in Paignton and improve a school in Torquay.”

Business leaders react to Midas closure

Philip Churm, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Business leaders in Devon have been reacting to the news that one of the UK’s biggest privately owned construction companies has gone out of business – affecting a number of public sector projects in the county.

Midas Group Limited has offices across south west England and Wales including in Exeter in Newton Abbot.  

A contract with Torbay Council to build an £11 million Premier Inn is now threatened but the council said it will work with stakeholders to make sure it is delivered.

Over 300 people are expected to lose their jobs with the closure of Midas Construction, although its housing division Mi-Space has been acquired by commercial decorating firm Bell Group, saving 46 jobs.

Midas had a turnover of almost £300 million last year, with many smaller firms around Devon being subcontractors and suppliers for the group. 

CEO of Devon and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce Stuart Elford said it is very sad news.

“The Midas group, Midas construction and Mi-Space, are large companies that have been around in this region for a long time and been a staple part of the economy,” he said.

“It’s very sad also that over 300 redundancies have been announced, although the positive news for those poor people who’ve been made redundant is that the jobs market is incredibly buoyant and there are massive shortages in the construction industry. 

“So I’m confident that with the support of the local authorities and chambers of commerce, they will find other employment.”

But Mr Elford explained that many small companies in Devon would also be hit by the closure.  

He said: “One of the major concerns will be about the supply chain because this will have a knock on effect, especially to small businesses that were supplying products or contracts into Midas. 

“And so the knock on effects of this could go on for some time.”   

The company recently posted a loss of over £2 million for its last financial year, blaming its troubles on the pandemic, ongoing shortages of materials and labour, and a significant rise in costs because of inflation.

Mr Elford said there were many factors which led to the company’s collapse. 

“It’s not really a shock in some ways that Midas is going under in that we’ve seen huge price rises.

“The effect of Brexit and the pandemic have caused the price of raw materials, of construction materials, to go through the roof. And so where large contracts may have been taken on on a fixed price basis, they just couldn’t be delivered for the sort of price that may have been quoted.

“I’m not saying that’s definitely what’s happened here, but you can see how supply chain difficulties, costs of materials for buildings and labour shortages – increased prices across the range – will, of course, have a dramatic effect, and sadly, I suspect it won’t be the last we’ll see.

Mr Elford explained that large sections of the construction industry have reported significant increases in costs. 

“And this is a sector, a business, that has been struggling with the effects of the pandemic; unable to operate fully, staff shortages, shortage of raw materials and so forth, exacerbated by the Brexit situation where again, more staff who were perhaps EU citizens have returned home and raw materials have been difficult to get hold of,” he said. 

“So sadly, this has been a bit of a perfect storm. 

“Businesses that have borrowed to survive the pandemic are now having to pay that borrowing back. And if there are cash flow shortages, that will mean they don’t have the reserves to survive. 

“So I unfortunately think we will see further firms going under.”

However, Mr Elford said that workers who had lost their jobs because of the closure of Midas should not lose hope.

“You know, I really feel for those people who’ve been made redundant and they must be concerned, of course.

“But my message to them is there are loads and loads of companies recruiting, who’re doing well, who are desperate for good talent. 

“So don’t lose heart. You will be employed because business is desperate for good people.”

Earlier this month the Liberal Democrat leaders of Torbay, Teignbridge and North Devon Councils wrote to Michael Gove, asking for help.  

Midas was Teignbridge District Council’s main contractor and also had contracts to build nine affordable homes in Paignton and improve a school in Torquay.

Whether Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer or someone else is at the helm, the government is going to face some unenviable and unpalatable choices. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has told The Independent the country must choose between higher taxes for the next 20 years or cutting back the welfare state because it faces a spending black hole of £60bn each year.

www.independent.co.uk 

He said an ageing population would force politicians to choose between the approach of other western European countries – increasing taxes by another 2-3 per cent of national income – or paring back basic education, health and social care services.

A rise in national insurance contributions, together with increasing energy and council tax bills, will provide a “triple whammy” for many already hard-pressed households in April. The word “crisis” is overused by politicians and the media, but on this occasion it is no exaggeration: the cost-of-living crisis looks set to become the dominant political issue of this year.

Almost two in three workers expect their pay to rise by less than the cost of living this year, according to a Britain Thinks poll for the TUC published today. Three in 10 do not believe their wages will increase at all and only one in 10 expects a rise that will exceed living costs.

As if the government did not have enough on its plate, the British Chambers of Commerce is warning the Treasury of a “cost of doing business crisis”. Its survey of more than 1,000 businesses found that 73 per cent say they are raising prices in response to increasing costs, which the organisation warned would fuel the cost-of-living crisis for households. 

These short-term pressures will require a more proactive and generous response than the government has managed to date; spreading the rise in gas and electricity prices over five years will bring only small comfort, and bills could rise again in the autumn.

In the medium term, the pressures on households and business from higher taxes are likely to grow. The IFS’ warning is underlined by a study today by the Resolution Foundation think tank which suggests demographic pressures will add £24bn to state pension spending, and rising health costs a further £52bn to the health budget by 2030. The transition to net zero could cost another £12bn. Overall, the size of the state could rise from 42 per cent to 44 per cent by the end of this decade.

Such gloomy but realistic predictions should act as a reality check when Mr Johnson dangles the prospect of tax cuts before the next general election in front of Tory MPs as part of his struggle to hang on to his job. And when Mr Sunak plays along, knowing he might soon be contesting a Tory leadership election in which he would parade his credentials as a fiscal conservative and instinctive tax-cutter despite his recent actions. Whatever the state of the public finances, the Tories seem to have foolishly locked themselves into pre-election income tax cuts in an attempt to wrong-foot Labour.

The political debate on tax is dishonest. National insurance has shouldered the burden of tax rises since 2000 and has more than doubled as a share of GDP since the Second World War. At the same time, Tory and Labour governments have announced headline-grabbing cuts in income tax, knowing that voters are more willing to support higher national insurance for health and social care because of its original contributory principle.

Given the inevitable demands on vital public services in future, it would be fairer to raise income tax for higher earners than to increase the burden of national insurance, which starts to bite when workers earn £9,568 a year.

Alternatively, politicians should be ready to raise more from taxes on wealth, which has grown from three to almost eight times the value of national income in the past 40 years. Labour has dipped a toe in this water but is wary of Tory attacks on a single “wealth tax”. However, if the UK is to have the public services it needs and to avoid deeply damaging, regressive cuts to the welfare state, it is a route down which politicians of all hues will probably need to go sooner or later.

The headlines (this is from the Times) say it all.

As Tory MPs return to their constituencies for a half term break, away from all the plotting, this story refuses to fade.

Why wasn’t this spotted before? – Owl

The new photograph shows the prime minister with three members of staff around a table with what appears to be an open bottle of champagne and crisps. One staff member has a garland of tinsel round his neck, while another is sporting a red and white Santa hat. Source www.independent.co.uk .

Downing Street previously said the quiz, held on 15 December 2020, took place virtually but with some members of staff taking part in the office.

It took place during a period when indoor social mixing was banned in London, which was under tier two Covid restrictions.

Official guidance also stated: “You must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in your tier.”

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi previously suggested no rules were broken because “no alcohol” was consumed.

“He’s on a virtual call, no alcohol, thanking his staff for 10 minutes before he goes back to work, is that really a terrible crime?” the minister asked in a TV interview last December.

And the prime minister himself said at the time: “I can tell you once again that I certainly broke no rules.” [Owl’s emphasis]

“Back to Blighty where Boris Johnson, money launderer to the Tsars, clings to his position as Rishi Sunak’s house-sitter.”

How the other side of the world sees Boris Johnson, his government and ultimately us. – Owl

See Tweet here. [Full text reproduced below for clarity.]

Text reads:

Letter from London

from Our Own Correspondent

Back to Blighty where Boris Johnson, money launderer to the Tsars, clings to his position as Rishi Sunak’s house-sitter.

The natives are as oblivious to the never-ending decline of this erstwhile superpower as they were when they first watched Zulu. But since Partygate, it has begun to dawn that electing a rococo gigolo to guide them through a pandemic, imminent world war, economic crisis and environmental systems collapse, was not the smart move the metric-averse once thought it to be.

Some of Johnson’s henchmen are buckling too. When 8-bit shaman Dominic Cummings invoked the sacrament of moral conscience, several MPs who hitherto had been labouring to disenfranchise refugees, disability claimants and the working poor, suddenly felt unable to follow a nonce-bantering PM and began the brutal defenestration rite of licking Basildon Bond envelopes and giving them to Graham Brady.

Only the hardcore remain: those for whom employment in another Cabinet would be inconceivable, the likes of Nadine, Grant/Michael, and Jacob, counsellors to a man who has never known friendship, a gang of acolytes so sycophantic as to make Mugabe blush. These bunker girls and boys speak only in platitudes, severing words from meanings and reciting cliched phrases in the hope that nobody will notice how stupid they are. In such a climate ‘vaccine rollout’ becomes ‘your living costs are going through the roof’, ‘levelling up’ means ‘we partied while you watched your mum die on Zoom’ and ‘sorry’ translates as ‘fuck you’. The great classicist needs them. But they may prove to be his Achilles elbow.

Downing Street, where near-hourly resignations are spun as decisive leadership, is giving off strong Downfall energy. It seems increasingly likely that unless they can lure him out with a crate of Estrella, Boris Munchhausen will be supergluing himself to the Lulu Lytle wallpaper before anyone is found with the special skills needed to convince him to go quietly. That’s OK though. Rishi can afford to redecorate.

Just how many fridges to chill drinks in No 10 meeting rooms are there?

Are they clearly labelled “For Wine Time Friday” and “Official Use Only” depending on how they were funded? – Owl

www.independent.co.uk

Downing Street bought a fridge for a meeting room with taxpayers’ money around the time No 10 was hosting “wine time Fridays” and other parties, The Independent can reveal.

Boris Johnson was urged to “come clean” about how much public money had been spent on the lockdown bashes – a fact which is yet to have been established about the rule-breaking gatherings.

No 10 insisted that the publicly-funded fridge was not involved in the festivities but shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry told The Independent that the government had questions to answer about any potential “misuse of public funds”.

The Daily Mirror reported last month that a wine fridge had been “smuggled” into No 10 through the backdoor to hold bottles for the regular gatherings – prompting anger at a time when indoor socialising was supposed to be banned.

The regular “wine times” sit alongside the 16 events investigated by top civil servant by Sue Gray, which all took place during May 2020 and April 2021.

The government confirmed that the taxpayer-funded fridge had been purchased at some point between April 2020 and April 2021, though did not specify on which date. The fridge apparently expanded the chilled drinks holding capacity in a meeting room in No 10.

Labour’s Ms Thornberry said: “We all know that Covid rules were repeatedly broken in Downing Street during lockdown, but we don’t yet know what taxpayers’ money was spent in the process.

“Rather than have the answer to that question dragged out of them one pizza delivery or wine fridge at a time, I would urge Cabinet Office ministers simply to disclose any misuse of public funds they have discovered related to the Downing Street parties, and tell us what action has been taken as a result.”

The government was last month asked by Ms Thornberry to disclose how much public money was spent on refrigerators for No 10 – but dragged its feet on responding.

In its eventual response, Paymaster General Michael Ellis said in a written answer that two fridges had been purchased during the period, one to replace and existing fridge and one apparently to expand the capacity to store drinks in a meeting room.

“Downing Street is a working building, including catering facilities and offices for staff; as is common in workplaces including the House of Commons, refrigerators are provided for general staff use,” he said.

“One refrigerator was purchased in the financial year for a Downing Street meeting room, and one to replace an existing refrigerator that had reached the end of its working operation.

“Notwithstanding, I can confirm that no such public expenditure was accrued in relation to the matters considered in the investigations by the Second Permanent Secretary or connected with associated media reports on this matter.”

Sue Gray’s report found that “failures of leadership and judgement” and excessive drinking at work against the backdrop of the pandemic led to events that “should not have been allowed to take place”. She said that other events “should not have been allowed to develop as they did”.

The prime minister faced calls to resign following the report, including from within his own party. No 10 is now subject to an investigation by the Metropolitan Police, which could levy fines under Covid-19 regulations.

Police reportedly have a photograph of Boris Johnson holding a can of beer at one event, a lockdown birthday party allegedly instigate by his wife Carrie in June 2020. The picture is thought to be one of 300 submitted the Met by Ms Gray’s inquiry – which was asked not to publish details of the events so that it did not prejudice the ongoing police investigation.

But full details of the parties may never be released because the prime minister will ultimately control whether evidence submitted by the second permanent secretary ever sees the light of day.

One of the South West’s largest employers, Midas has gone into administration.

Within hours, however,  it was announced that Bell Group had swooped to purchase Mi-space (UK) Ltd, the property services division which is part of the Midas Group.

The acquisition grows Bell’s already strong presence in the South West and Wales and protects an estimated 110 direct and indirect jobs.

Bell is a market leader in the sector and already has offices across the South West in Plymouth, Taunton, Bristol, and South Wales, with plans to open up a new office in Exeter in 2022.

The deal to purchase the Mi-space business and certain of its assets out of administration secures economic activity valued at up to £20m annually to the local economy, significant supply chain links and indirect employment.

Mi-space has worked for many years in communities across the South West and Wales on a wide range of property improvement, energy efficiency upgrades and retrofitting to homes, benefiting thousands of families and supporting clients which currently include: Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cornwall Housing Association, Curo Places Ltd, Bristol City Council, Exeter City Council, Ovo Energy and Sanctuary.

Mi-space has been contracted to EDDC in the past.

Midas goes into administration

Lili Stebbings www.devonlive.com

The £290million turnover company reportedly filed a court notice of its intention to appoint an administrator for itself and its main subsidiary Midas Construction Limited on January 29.

But this afternoon, February 8, the Exeter-based construction giant fell into administration with 303 staff being made redundant as a result, according to Construction Enquirer.

It is understood Midas chief executive Alan Hope and chairman Steve Hindley notified staff via teams calls and email on Tuesday afternoon.

Administrators from Teneon are now in charge of the construction group.

It follows the halt on three major hotel builds worth more than £40 million in Torbay following “constant discussions” with Midas Construction, who were the main contractors for the projects.

In Torquay work has stopped completely on Torbay Council’s £11m Premier Inn at The Terrace and the Fragrance Group, which is investing in excess of £30 million in the two hotel builds on Paignton Esplanade also confirmed it is “increasingly concerned” about the lack of progress over the last three months and now says it is “reviewing its options”.

A spokesperson for Midas told DevonLive: “As is well known in the industry there are issues relating to Brexit, Covid, ongoing shortages of materials and labour, and significant cost inflation, which are providing challenges to project delivery and timescales.

“We are working closely with all our stakeholders to resolve the situation.”

Midas won the contract from Torbay Council to build the £11m 120-bedroom Premier Inn on part of The Terrace car park in Torquay.

It was scheduled to open in late 2022 and bring 30 new permanent jobs to the town – with over 150 jobs during the construction and hopes of attracting an annual extra £3.3m tourism spend to the resort.

Torbay Council said it worked hard to ensure that the construction contract with Midas included requirements to employ local companies and apprentices.

A Torbay Council spokesperson said: “We are working with Midas to identify any issues which may be affecting the site and any required solutions. The council remains committed to the scheme which will not only generate new employment opportunities but will complement existing hotel accommodation in Torquay that will attract thousands of guests each year, boosting our local tourism economy by more than £3 million.”

Last year Midas, one of the UK’s largest privately-owned construction and property services companies, posted a trading loss for the first time in it’s 40 year history.

Midas is one of the region’s largest employers, supporting more than 10,000 jobs in supply chains.

The impact of Covid-19 was blamed for the post-tax loss of £2m.

NHS and social care workers in England will pay an estimated £390m extra to subsidise their own services when the National Insurance rise comes into effect in April, exclusive analysis by openDemocracy has revealed.

Adam Bychawski www.opendemocracy.net 

Nurses will take a £275-a-year pay cut on average as a result of the rise – despite Boris Johnson saying the money was needed to “pay good wages for the 50,000 nurses” that he pledged to recruit by 2025 when the plans were announced in September.

Social care workers will take an average cut of £129 a year.

The National Insurance rise will fund ‘the NHS and equivalent bodies’ and will be replaced by a formal ‘health and social care levy’ of the same value from 2023.

“Our crumbling social care system desperately needs more cash – we all know that. But a regressive tax which takes money from the pockets of the lowest-paid workers is not the way to do it,” said Rachel Harrison, national officer for the GMB trade union, which represents NHS and care workers.

“The Conservatives’ National Insurance hike will snatch hundreds of millions from the pockets of carers and NHS workers. It’s a completely backwards way of raising the money and it will ultimately be self-defeating.”

The lowest-paid NHS and social care staff – those earning £24,000 or less – will lose £66m in total from their pay cheques, calling into question the prime minister’s promise that the money “will go straight to the front line” of the health service.

Of that figure, £47m will come from the lowest-paid NHS staff and £19m from the lowest-paid social care staff.

The government has said that the manifesto-breaking tax rise, which is expected to raise £12.4bn a year, will be spent on tackling the backlog of patients waiting for treatments caused by the pandemic and fixing long-term problems with social care.

NHS workers will lose £327m while workers in the social care sector will lose £61m in total.

Care workers will lose £4.4m a year from their pay, despite 71% already being paid below the real living wage of £9.50 in the UK and £10.85 in London, according to Skills for Care.

NHS staff in England have suffered real-term salary falls of up to £2,949 over the past decade, according to analysis by the Health Foundation published last year.

Last year, English NHS staff received a 3% pay rise following an independent pay review. However, junior doctors will lose on average £193 from their annual pay after the tax rise.

“Over the last decade we’ve seen doctors hit by repeated real-terms pay cuts, while they have been asked to work harder and go above and beyond during the pandemic,” a British Medical Association spokesperson said.

“Upcoming tax changes will further erode doctors’ take-home pay, which is why we are calling for a pay increase that reflects cost of living increases.”

The 1.25 percentage points rise in National Insurance comes as households are already struggling with a worsening cost of living crisis.

Inflation is already at its highest level for three decades and the Bank of England expects it will peak at 7% when the increase comes into effect in April.

Last month, 14 unions, representing 1.2 million health staff in England, called on the government to raise NHS pay and raised fears of a “growing exodus of exhausted staff”.

The NHS said that staff shortages were “the single biggest and most urgent we need to address” in its 2019 recruitment plan. One in eight nursing posts and around one in 11 care worker roles are currently unfilled, with demand for the positions set to rise in line with the UK’s ageing population.

The health service’s staffing shortfall of 100,000 could reach a quarter of a million by the end of the next decade, according to research by the King’s Fund think tank.

openDemocracy estimated the figures using the latest NHS Digital data on the mean full-time equivalent (FTE) annual pay of staff by job title, cross-referenced with the most recent data on the number of FTE staff in each role.

Social care statistics were estimated using data from Skills For Care’s workforce estimates by cross-referencing the number of public, private and independent FTE jobs in the social care sector against Skills For Care’s estimates for mean FTE annual pay.

The National Insurance increases were estimated by running mean FTE salaries through Which?’s National Insurance calculator for 2021-22 and 2022-23.

A Treasury spokesperson said: “We’ve taken decisive and historic action, with our Health and Social Care Levy due to raise around £13bn a year for the NHS and social care. It is a progressive tax with those earning more paying more. We rightly funded a 3% pay-rise for NHS staff this year, increasing nurses pay by £1,000 a year on average, and have committed to pay rises next year.

The Health and Social Care Levy will benefit people up and down the country, including by tackling the backlog that the pandemic has created on NHS operations and procedures strengthening the adult social care system so that people do not have to bear the financial risks of catastrophic care costs themselves.”

Funding for rural councils cut by £480m. Biggest cut of £100.7m over two years in South West local authorities. 

In contrast, Cities and Urban areas benefit from £5.7bn road and transport fund over three years.

Where is the outcry from our County leaders and MPs? – Owl

Ben Clatworthy www.thetimes.co.uk

More than 11 million potholes will go unfilled from April when funding for rural councils is cut by £480 million.

Councils outside England’s major urban areas say they will be forced to cancel or drastically scale back road maintenance work as a result. They are to receive £727 million for road maintenance funding in the next financial year, compared with £1.2 billion two years ago.

Critics accused the Conservatives of breaking a manifesto pledge to earmark an extra £500 million a year for potholes. The budgets of England’s largest county and rural councils are being cut.

The County Councils Network (CCN), which represents the councils and carried out the analysis, said the cuts would leave local authorities with little choice but to cancel planned works, despite the worsening condition of England’s roads.

County leaders said they had welcomed the 2019 pledge of “the biggest-ever pothole filling programme”, which included £2.5 billion in additional funding to councils over the course of the parliament, but they were now receiving 40 per cent less than they did two years ago.

“A £479 million drop in funding between 2021 and 2023 is hugely significant,” Martin Hill, the CCN devolution spokesman, said. “With the government making such a clear announcement that it was increasing pothole funding in 2019, we are left grappling with the public’s expectation that we are able to continue to invest in our road network.

“Unless this reduction is reversed, and the government provides an urgent injection of resources to match the level it distributed in 2020-21, then we will have little choice but to cancel planned works. This would represent a major scaling back of our ambitions.”

In contrast England’s major cities and urban areas will benefit from significant investment in road and transport infrastructure through a new dedicated £5.7 billion fund over the next three years.

Last year the RAC dealt with more than 10,000 pothole-related breakdowns, which worked out as 27 every day and was the highest total since 2018.

The CCN said that 13,000 miles of rural roads in the 36 affected county areas were identified as requiring maintenance last year, equating to 9 per cent of the total road network.

In 2020-21, when councils were allocated the first tranche of the pothole fund, budgets rose to £1.2 billion for those councils, although there were immediate reductions in the 2021-22 budget. For the next financial year the amount will be £727 million.

Local authorities in southwest England will have the biggest reduction in funding over the two years. Their budgets will fall by £100.7 million, which would pay for 2.4 million potholes to be filled.

Counties in the southeast lose out on £87.1 million of funding, the equivalent to two million potholes, while those in east of the country lose out on £71.4 million, which could have filled 1.7 million potholes.

The latest research by the Asphalt Industry Alliance found that average pothole repair cost an average of £41.61. This means that the funding shortfall will result in 11.5 million potholes not being dealt with.

Is the District Heating system for Cranbrook capped or uncapped? – Owl

www.independent.co.uk

Residents in blocks of flats up and down the country are being hit with energy bill increases of as much as 700 per cent because they are not protected by Ofgem’s price cap.

The cap will rise by a record 54 per cent in April, but an estimated 800,000 homeowners and tenants are on communal networks that heat large buildings. The contracts are negotiated for all residents collectively by freeholders and managing agents. Because the contracts are classed as commercial, not domestic, residents have no protection from rising prices.

Many more flat owners and tenants will also be hit with increases to electricity bills to cover communal lighting and the energy used to pump water to higher levels of buildings, campaigners have warned.

The government has confirmed that while the “vast majority” of leaseholders will qualify for a £200 discount on bills – a measure announced by Rishi Sunak last week – some will not.

Residents of the Pan Peninsula development near Canary Wharf in London received a letter in December quoting a 1,000 per cent increase in the unit price for gas used in their communal heating system. The quote was reduced after wholesale prices decreased in January, but tenants and leaseholders are still facing a 450 per cent increase in their gas bills.

“People are seeing some shocking increases to their bills,” said Andy, a member of the residents’ management committee for the development. He counts himself as “fortunate” because his flat is on the 33rd floor and benefits from heat rising from lower floors. The heating contract is negotiated by the owner of the building, which means residents have little say.

Adding to consumers’ woes, many heat networks are inefficient, unreliable, and use much more energy than they would if they were well designed.

“There are no technical standards for heat networks. A lot of contractors that install them don’t have the right expertise,” said Stephen Knight, director of the Heat Trust, a voluntary body that oversees the sector.

“If your system is using 10 kW of power to generate 5 kW of heat – as many networks do – you end up paying for twice as much energy as you need to.”

Mr Knight said that without government intervention, almost all of the estimated 800,000 customers on communal heat networks will see increases of around 400 per cent in the coming weeks and months as contracts come up for renewal.

“This is a sector that is crying out for regulation,” he said. “There really is not good news here.”

For years, the government has promised statutory regulation of the sector, but it has failed to deliver.

A government spokesperson said: “We recognise that leaseholders and heat network customers are currently only protected by the energy price cap for the gas and electricity they buy directly from an energy supplier, which is why we are giving Ofgem new powers to regulate prices in this sector in the future.

They said that the “vast majority” of leaseholders would receive a £200 loan to reduce their energy bills in October, and a further £150 council tax rebate in April.

It is not just communal heating networks that are being hit with price-cap-busting bill increases.

In Birmingham, Ray Illingworth has just received notification that his communal electricity bill will more than quadruple, from 15p per unit to 65p. That’s more than double the Ofgem price cap amount of 27p.

Mr Illingworth estimates that it will cost him and other residents between £600 and £1,000 extra per year. The cost comes on top of thousands of pounds that they have been forced to pay to fix dangerous cladding and other fire safety defects.

To make matters worse, he has recorded temperatures below 12C inside his flat, because cladding and insulation has been removed and is yet to be replaced.

“Anyone in a building over four storeys tall is going to be hammered by these bill increases. It’s pretty awful,” he said.

“Why should these residential blocks be charged commercial rates? It doesn’t make sense other than to allow people to make more money out of us again.”

Martin Boyd, chair of campaigning charity Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, said consumers have no control over what their freeholder landlord decides.

He added: “There is also no Ofgem price cap to protect them from soaring costs, and so many are currently facing gigantic price hikes due to providers passing on runaway wholesale gas costs in full against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine standoff and a Europe-wide gas crisis.

“At LKP, we’re seeing flat leaseholders come to us concerned that their freeholder or freeholder-appointed managing agent has dumped commercial-rate VAT and the climate levy onto their utility bills, which should not be happening. As with everything leasehold, the flat owners pay but have no say.”

“I did not come into politics to lie to people, and I did not come into politics to be lied to by colleagues.”

Guy Henderson www.devonlive.com

Devon MP Anthony Mangnall, who submitted a letter of no confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday, has admitted he is “terrified” for his political future as a result.

But, he said: “I did not come into politics to lie to people, and I did not come into politics to be lied to by colleagues.”

The Conservative MP for Totnes and South Devon, whose constituency covers Brixham and parts of Torbay, was speaking on the Telegraph’s “Chopper’s Politics” podcast.

He became the 12th Conservative MP to submit a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister to the influential 1922 Committee.

It takes 54 letters to trigger a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister, whose position is becoming increasingly fragile in the midst of claims of parties being held in Downing Street while the rest of the country was in lockdown.

Mr Mangnall announced his decision in a Tweet which said: “At this time I can no longer support the PM.

“His actions and mistruths are overshadowing the extraordinary work of so many excellent ministers and colleagues.”

A report into the so-called “Partygate” by senior civil servant Sue Grey pinpointed “serious failures of leadership and judgement” from the Prime Minister.

South West Devon Conservative MP Sir Gary Streeter has also penned a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson. The actions of the Devon MPs have been dubbed the “Cream Tea Coup”

Mr Mangnall told the podcast: “I think we have to have a real conversation about standards in public life, about making sure our elected representatives are not just adhering to the rules but actually leading by example.

“Unfortunately I don’t see that to be the case at the moment.”

He said Mr Johnson’s handling of the Sue Grey report had been “below par”, and had been the latest in a series of problems to come out of 10 Downing Street.

He said he supported the Government and was a “Conservative through and through”, but the catalogue of problems around the leadership could not continue.

“It’s a question of the Prime Minister’s judgement, and whether he is the right man to be leading this, and I’m not sure that he is,” he said.

“I’m not questioning my place within the Conservative Party. I’m questioning how we are led.”

The Totnes MP admitted he was “terrified” and “incredibly emotional” about what his action might mean for his own political future, but added: “It is not about me. It’s about how we govern in this country.

“I’m sorry to him personally, but I’m not sorry for the course of action I have decided to take, because my party and my country matter.”

Mr Mangnall is one of the so-called “Class of 2019” who won their seats in the last General Election. He took over the reins at Totnes from another controversial MP, Dr Sarah Wollaston, whose strong opinions on Brexit led her to leave the Conservatives, stand briefly as an independent and then join the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Mangnall took the seat from her with a majority of almost 13,000 votes.