Brian Coleman FRSA (born 25 June 1961) is a Conservative Party politician and member of the London Assembly for Barnet and Camden, England. He is a Councillor in the London Borough of Barnet.
He is a former Chairman of the Finchley Friends of Israel and remains member of Conservative Friends of Israel. Governor at two local Secondary Schools, he is also involved with the Scouts and the Rotary Club, and is a vocal supporter of the rights of Falun Gong practitioners[1] and the Greek Cypriot community.
Politics
Coleman has tended to take strong and often controversial lines on many topics including the development of Barnet Football Club, the London 2012 Olympic Bid and the expansion of Tesco into small shopping parades. Following the July 7, 2005 bombings in London, Coleman questioned on radio how safe it was for Londoners to travel by public transport. In June 2006 he criticised the planned refurbishment of Potters Fields Park (between City Hall and Tower Bridge), saying that it should be replaced by a multi-storey car park[2].
In April 2004 Coleman was against Middlesex University's plans to expand its Trent Park campus because it was "a crap university".[3] It was announced in June 2008 that he was to receive an honorary doctorate from Middlesex University for his "outstanding commitment to the community".[4]
In August 2006 Coleman criticised people legally protesting against a provision of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 as "sad, mad and bad". On the restrictions on the right to demonstrate, he stated "It's not a matter of free speech - it's a matter of a proper way of running a world city".[5]
In August 2007, residents of New Barnet campaigning on the environmental and transport details connected with the redevelopment of the East Barnet School site (metropolitan open land adjoining the green belt), were criticised by Coleman as "idiots" and "the usual Nimby brigade".[6] The previous month Coleman was the only objector to the erection of a wind turbine at Frith Manor Primary School (opposite Partingdale Lane), as he believed it was "out of character in the green belt".[7]
In 2002, Coleman announced his intention to seek the Conservative Party nomination to be candidate for Mayor of London but he was rejected at a very early stage.[8] During the 2005 Conservative Party Leadership Election, Coleman publicly supported David Davis.
In April 2007, Coleman caused a small media storm when he claimed that the former Prime Minister Edward Heath was gay and that it was "common knowledge" in the Conservative party that he had been told to keep it secret for the sake of his career.[9] Writing on the website of the New Statesman on the issue of outing, he said: "The late Ted Heath managed to obtain the highest office of state after he was supposedly advised to cease his cottaging activities in the 1950s when he became a privy councillor."[10]
An article by Coleman entitled "Politics and alcohol" for the New Statesman in August 2007 made allegations that Sir Ian Blair the Metropolitan Police Commissioner was "somewhat the worse for wear at a number of official functions" and "needed assistance from his protection officers to manage the stairs".[11] Mayor Ken Livingstone was reported to have responded that "The London Assembly should stop giving a platform to a person who in addition to putting out all sorts of smears and gossip is also a died-in-the-wool Thatcherite who in no way represents the views of most Londoners".[12]
In late August 2008, an article by Coleman in the Barnet Press caused another minor media storm.[13] He wrote that the British athletes were "tainted with the blood of Tibetans", and that London Mayor Boris Johnson was "forced to go to Beijing to collect the Olympic flag". Coleman's comments received cross party criticism and the Mayor distanced himself from the remarks made by his fellow Tory.[14][15]
Barnet Council
Coleman was elected as councillor for Totteridge ward in 1998.[16]
Immediately following the local government election in May 2006, Coleman successfully proposed a vote of no confidence in the Leader of the London Borough of Barnet, Councillor Brian Salinger, causing his replacement as Leader by Councillor Mike Freer[17].
He is Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Community Safety of Barnet.[18]
Pro-car policy
During his time as a councillor in the London Borough of Barnet, Coleman has built up a reputation as an outspoken supporter of car driving, leading Richard Littlejohn to label him a "hero" for introducing a policy of removing road humps when the roads of Barnet are resurfaced.[19] Coleman quotes the Metropolitan Police and the London Ambulance Service as being supporters of this policy while road safety critics argue that the policy is reckless and driven by populism and self promotion.
Coleman was caught by a speed camera exceeding a 30mph speed limit in Borehamwood in January 2006. He already had 9 points on his driving licence. On 9 August 2006 at St Albans Magistrates' Court, Coleman was given three points on his licence, banned from driving for six months and fined £300.[20][21]
In August 2007 Coleman received an apology from the BBC after he complained that the appearance of Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq at the media launch of a London cycling event was political. Speaking at the launch, the Mayor of London and a Green party assembly member had accused Conservatives of pursuing a pro-car policy.[22][23]
Partingdale Lane
Coleman takes great pride in his campaign to re-open Partingdale Lane, a narrow country road with no pavement, between Mill Hill and Woodside Park in London. The lane was closed by Barnet's previous Labour council for safety reasons, not least that residents of nearby Woodside Park had been using the road as a high speed rat-run[24].
The road was reopened in December 2002[25], before being closed again two months later following a High Court judgement[26].
Following a £250,000 safety improvement project (including a pavement, traffic islands, 20mph flashing speed-limit signs and width restrictions) the road was reopened in September 2007[27]. Coleman accused residents of staging one of the two car accidents reported in the weeks following the reopening of Partingdale Lane[28].
A third collision in Partingdale Lane in May 2008 brought further criticism of Coleman. A Lib Dem councillor commented that "Brian Coleman is like a child with a favourite toy. He just wouldn't let this go and his colleagues let him do it to make up for the fact that they'll never make him leader of the council". Coleman, cabinet member for community safety, said he was too busy to comment.[29]
London Assembly
He was elected to the Assembly at the 2000 election, and retained the seat both in 2004 and 2008. He served as the first Conservative Chairman of the London Assembly in 2004/5 and again in 2006/07, and was Deputy Chair(man) in 2005/6 and for the 2007/8 session.
As Chairman of the London Assembly, Coleman introduced the old Greater London Council Chairman's badge [30] and has made the role considerably more civic-based than previous holders of the post. This has led some critics to label Coleman as "pompous" and "self important"[31], not least because of the high number of honorary and civic positions he has held in the past and continues to hold at present.
Coleman's politics and style led him to be one of Mayor of London Ken Livingstone's principal critics, publicly falling out with the Mayor over the London Borough of Barnet's resurfacing policy, congestion charging and Livingstone's comments in 2005 likening a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard.
On his re-election to the Assembly in May 2008, Coleman made an angry acceptance speech at the count in which he announced that "the king of bling is back" before storming out, accompanied by his mother.[32] [33]
Cab fares
In July 2007 he was criticised by Livingstone for spending £10,000 on taxi fares from 1st April 2006 to 30th March 2007, compared to the average figure for a London Assembly member of around £845.[34][35][36] This period coincided with the six months that Coleman was banned from driving.
A GLA audit panel report in October 2007 showed that Coleman had run up taxi expenses of £1740 in the period 1st April 2007 to 31st August 2007.[37] This accounted for one third of all cab expenses for the Mayor and 25 GLA members. He was criticised by Livingstone for "creating a chauffeur service for himself" and by the leader of the Barnet Council Labour group for his "breathtaking arrogance".[38]
A further GLA audit panel report in March 2008 revealed that Coleman had run up taxi expenses of £4157 in the period 1st April 2007 to 31st December 2007.[39] This accounted for half of all cab expenses for the Mayor and 25 GLA members. Livingstone asked "Brian Coleman must explain to Londoners how he can possibly justify spending more on taxis in four weeks than the average Assembly member does in nine months."[40]
When questioned about his cab fares by the Metro Newspaper, Coleman claimed not to use taxis but thought he was being ferried about in 'an official GLA car'. They reported that in December 2007 he ran up a £412.50 cab fare on a round-trip from his home in Finchley to a nearby meeting where the driver kept the meter running before taking him to City Hall.[41]
Another GLA audit panel report in July 2008 revealed that Coleman had run up taxi expenses of £8231 in the period 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2008.[42] This accounted for nearly half of all the cab expenses of the Mayor and 25 assembly members. On one day alone Coleman ran up a cab bill of £656.[43] Speaking to the Metro Newspaper, assembly member Jenny Jones said that he justifies the expense because he has taken to wearing gold chains from another era - "He doesn't need to wear these chains but his ego's out of its cage".[44]
London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority
Coleman was vice chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority from 2004 to 2008. Following the election of Boris Johnson as Mayor in May 2008, Coleman was appointed Chairman.
In August 2008 Coleman claimed that he had been passed over for the post of chair of the Local Government Association fire services management committee due to homophobia by fellow Tories.[45]
Outlining areas of potential cutbacks to a London Assembley committee in September 2008, Coleman suggested that the London Fire Brigade Museum should be closed. He said that "having recently visited the fire brigade museum – we shook the cobwebs off the door as we opened it – I have to say that it is not a museum that is fit for purpose or that in my view contributes anything", adding "when you've seen one brass helmet you have seen them all".[46]
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