There are career politicians and then there are career politicians in the making. Council Leader Dan Swords is the latter. Unfortunately for the taxpayer this means he will probably suckle on the teat of the taxpayer for most of, if not all of his working life with little to no benefit to the people he is supposed to serve.
This is not an unfounded opinion and it doesn’t take long to see he is headed down the same path as all other career politicians. Dan was 22 years old when he was first selected as council leader. It could be argued that is far too young to be the leader of a council which is responsible for tens of thousands of residents’ lives. Especially as in Dan’s case he has no other real world experience, apart from of course working in the public sector. There seems to be some consternation within the council about Dan’s performance so far.
Here’s a taster of the outside bodies Dan sits on (all of whom are financed by the taxpayer):
- District Councils Network
- East of England Local Government Association
- Growth Board
- Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Board
- Harlow Regeneration Partnership
- Local Government Association District Councils Network Assembly
- Local Government Association General Assembly
- North Essex Councils
- UK Innovation Corridor
Quite a busy young man! We have not yet investigated whether Dan receives any compensation from any of the above bodies, but we will do in due course. In addition to his council work Dan is also the budding entrepreneur too! Dan has set up an LTD Company called Campaign Leaders Limited. From the name alone we can only guess that the company will be relying on the public purse in the future.
From Dan’s entry on the Register of Member’s Interests:
Dan has membership of the following bodies:
- Harlow Regeneration Partnership LLP (Chair)
- Executive of the District Councils Network (Board Member)
There’s also a note that Dan is also employed as a LGA Peer in addition to his “employment” at Campaign Leaders LTD. We will be investigating the LGA in a future article. It’s noted in the register that expenses are covered by the LGA for fulfilling that role, how much these total is not clear yet. This is addition to his councillor’s allowance.
In Section 11 of the register Dan has declared some gifts and this is where it gets interesting, things start to get a little murky, at a bare minimum there seems to be some conflict of interest. Directly from the register:
A roundtable breakfast event at the Conservative Party Conference with the developer Thakeham in which they provided breakfast and drinks – 4 October 2022 – Estimated Value £35. Complimentary lunch at the Harlow Rugby Club annual pre-match sponsor’s lunch – 18 February 2023 – Estimated Value £50. Lunch provided by Montagu Evans – 31 October 2023 – Estimated Value £45. Harlow Regeneration Partnership Board meeting lunch – 15 December 2023 – Estimated Value £50
There are two items listed which immediately raise concerns. The taxpayer, via the council makes significant payments to both Montagu Evans and the Harlow Regeneration Partnership. At best this is a conflict of interests and both donations should have been declined, regardless of whether Dan is the chair of the board at HRP or not. The optics for the taxpayer – at least to those of us in the know are not endearing.
The Harlow Regeneration Partnership is a different kettle of fish, and that will be dealt with in good time.
Hypocrisy is not a good look for the council, regardless of your political affiliations, and especially when cynical point scoring is attempted. How nice it would be if every working taxpayer could get a vote to decide whether they would get a wage increase or not? In very rare cases would anyone vote against receiving an increase. Unless of course you knew what the outcome was going to be beforehand, then you could in “good conscience” vote against it, knowing full well that motion would pass and you’d be receiving that increase in your allowance anyway. Harlow Labour, we see you. Very cynical.
Unfortunately the normal run of the mill taxpayer in Harlow, probably wouldn’t have seen, known or paid any attention to this faux democracy and blatant virtue signalling. That will be changing in due course too.
This news article is absolutely outrageous. Yes, if a councillor voted against the increase in allowance they should not have taken it, but for the council leader to attempt to cynically take the moral high ground and slam Labour for taking the the increase, whilst taking the increase himself is pure unadulterated hypocrisy.
This is why it is the opinion of this publication that Dan is destined to become a career politician. Beholden to his kingmakers, to make a name for himself instead of looking out for the residents his council are responsible for. A 150% increase for the council leader is criminal, especially since it is the taxpayer who is funding this increase, in these harsh economic times!
Some questions that we would like answered:
- How did Dan manage to become Council Leader?
- How much more is Dan receiving from the other bodies he sits on?
- Why has Harlow Council created an LTD partnership with Hill Partners to create HRP? To what end?
- Will the Harlow taxpayer be permitted to see the in depth accounts of HRP?
- Who is the current Chief executive of Harlow council, interim or otherwise. What about the other vacant senior council positions?
- If these positions are vacant, who is carrying out the duties for these roles, and how much are they earning to do so?
If you would like to pass over some information in the strictest confidence please email: whistleblower@the-harlow-sentinel.com