120K a year Boris Johnson ally accused of “breathtaking arrogance”

Regular readers will remember Barnet Tory and London Assembly member Brian Coleman. Almost six months ago, Coleman behaved in a manner that – even by his standards – was disgraceful, when he told a constituent to “live in the real world” after she appealed to him for housing help. Coleman completed his response to that constituent with the delightful “This correspondence is now closed.”

You’d have thought that after the negative publicity his behaviour received last time, then Coleman might have learned the error of his ways.

Sadly not.

The Barnet Tory was contacted recently by another local resident regarding an issue with parking, following a petition which collected 300 names:

“The 28-year-old sent an email to the Totteridge representative on Saturday to make his case and cited examples of a similar scheme in Camden. But he was amazed to receive one response within 24 hours describing the idea as “unworkable”….After the first email, Mr Sakol thanked Cllr Coleman for replying but urged him to consider the issue and pointed out the elected council member’s duty to represent his residents. The London Assembly member’s response simply stated: “I think this correspondence is now closed thank you.”

Coleman then proceeded to compound his error by hanging up on the local paper when they rang him for a comment. That has led the Barnet Times to launch a remarkable attack on the London Assembly member. In an editorial, the local paper said:

“Manners maketh the man, or so they say. Sadly, Brian Coleman seems to enjoy giving taxpayers the impression he does not have any.”

They go on to argue that he behaved in a “disgraceful display of how elected representatives should not behave”, branded his tactics as “more akin to a dictatorship” and accused him of “breathtaking arrogance”. The whole editorial really is worth a read, and shows the kind of people Boris Johnson is willing to surround himself with. Not only is Coleman a Tory London Assembly member, he’s also the Chair of the Local Fire and Emergency Planning Authority too, meaning he picks up £120k a year from the public purse each year.

With this kind of behaviour, does that sound like value for money?