We’ve previously looked at Boris Johnson’s first culling of the TfL Board, which appeared to signal that only Tories and businessmen should apply. Now there’s a new announcement of the replacement members to bring it back up to strength, and this time it’s just a tad more representative, although there are lingering worries:
The name that will make the papers is Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, the Paralympian, who’ll presumably be there to give advice on mobility-related work, although since she’s Welsh and apparently lives in the North-east of England, quite how much experience she has of mobility related problems on the London transport system is a bit moot. It does smack a bit of Blair-style celebrity appointments, but let’s see.
As for the rest:
The Good:
Chris Garnett will be the Deputy Chair. He’s a decent businessman, originally appointed by Livingstone in 2007, although with impeccable Tory credentials. He benefitted greatly from rail privatisation as head of GNER (which had a decent reputation as a well run outfit) and worked for GNER’s parent company Sea Containers, for a long time a Thatcherite favourite under James Sherwood, until it, er, hit the rocks in 2006. Boris might like a word about their horrendously ugly London HQ some time.
Tony West (ASLEF) and Patrick O’Keeffe (UNITE), the previous trade union representatives, got reappointed, which is a surprise, but nevertheless a welcome one given the ever present worry of strikes. In truth, these are more or less settled positions on the board and would cause an unholy row if removed.
The Odd
London’s taxi drivers get two representatives, which strikes me as rather over-represented. One, Bob Oddy, is really now a businessman, and General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association. That’s the same LTDA that, in 2002, gave new Directory of Policy Anthony Browne their ‘Prat of the Year’ award. That should be fun over the drinks at City Hall parties. Oddy is basically an black cab industry special interest merchant, he’s previously appeared at City Hall to express opposition to rivals such as pedicabs, which he wants banned.
The other cabbie is, yes, another businessman, Steve Wright, this time from the private hire (i.e. minicab) side of things.
Of course, TfL has a regulatory role over both black cabs and minicabs, so there’s a whiff of conflict of interest in having the heads of both main trade associations on the board.
The Ugly:
Keith Williams is straight from the airline industry, where he’s Chief Financial Officer for British Airways. Johnsons mad plans to resurrect the failed 1970s idea for an airport in the Thames Estuary have hit the headlines again this week, and he’s notably keener on air travel than on buses or trains, which is decidedly worrying.
Daniel Moylan is another Tory borough boy with London Councils connections, talked up briefly during the campaign as a possible Chair of TfL, so it’s no surprise to see him appointed. He’s from Kensington and Chelsea, in fact, and has (as is customary) a large number of seats on various boards and things. His two CiF articles are both on road issues, attacking the £25 emissions-based charging scheme and advocating that tiresome Tory favourite, ‘naked streets’.
The Rest:
Charles Belcher is the sixth and last new boy, he’s from the rail industry, where he had extensive experience, with BR, Rail Express Systems, then after privatisation with Silverlink, then Wessex and finally four and half years as MD of Virgin’s West Coast franchise, which was actually a pretty tough time for them. Not a lot of London-relevant experience, then, but he is there to fill one of the two seats earmarked by law for representatives of non-Londoners.
So, a raw summary:
Businessmen:
- Parker
- Garnett
- Hodgkinson
- Belcher
- Lindholm
- Williams
- Anderson
Tories:
- Norris
- Ranger
- Moylan
Trade Unions:
- West
- O’Keeffe
Trade Assocations:
- Oddy
- Wright
Touchy-feely soft lefty liberal inclusion and diversity things that annoy Gilligan:
- Hunt
- Grey-Thompson
Labour Party:
- …
Liberal Democrats:
- …
Academics
- …
Tags: 6 Comments
6 responses so far ↓
Balanced as ever, then. And party loyalties aside, how’s the balance between males and females? Am I overlooking someone or is there a 15:1 male:female ratio here?
I think I worked it out as one fewer woman. Eva Lindholm, Judith Hunt and Tanni Grey-Thompson.
Lindholm, Hunt plus Honor Chapman and Kirsten Hearn were on the final Livingstone board. On the other hand, Livingstone’s board had four Asians, Johnson’s has one. However, one can’t be completely representative with fifteen seats to choose. However, It’s the loss of academics that I’m most troubled with, since London was pretty much a testbed and then vindication of a lot of transport academic thinking over the last forty years*.
I think there’s very little bus industry representation, too, compared with road and air and indeed rail, although commuter rail would seem to be underrepresented too, Belcher and Garnett both coming from intercity operators.
* Dave Wetzel himself is no slouch academically, Tim Worstall of all people comments favourably on his ideas for land taxation.
Ah, not as bad as I feared there then, but certainly the other points you mention are disturbing. The whole air travel thing is very worrying, if somewhat strange given the Mayor’s lack of power in this area.
Patrick O’Keeffe is also a member of the Labour Party’s Regional Board and national Policy Forum.
Judith Hunt was a senior official of former Trade UNion AEEU-TASS before her Senior Local government menagement roles, cumulating as Chief Executive of Ealing. Unless tthere’s another Judith Hunt!
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