Star comment: Pate starts to make his mark
Meet the new boss. Not the same as the old boss. And he is making sure that you know that.
Malcolm Pate has taken the helm of Shropshire Council as its new leader and has been outlining how he plans to navigate the choppy seas in which the authority, along with councils up and down the land, finds itself.
It will not go unnoticed that the course he is plotting is not just a slight alteration to that of his predecessor Keith Barrow, but so substantially different that in important respects it can be seen as a complete U-turn. This difference of approach is remarkable when you consider that both are from the same political stable – Conservative.
In planet Pate the Shirehall will not be sold off (as Keith Barrow wanted), and he has poured cold water on moves to make the council more streamlined by commissioning services from elsewhere (and guess who championed that concept). You have to wonder where that leaves ip&e, the outfit set up by the council.
Councillor Pate declares: "I have to say that I think our staff are the biggest asset the council has." Keith Barrow supported moves towards creating a council with as few as 400 workers.
You sometimes hear what matters in politics is policies, not personalities. Now at Shropshire Council we are seeing a disproof of that. The personality of Keith Barrow shaped the direction of the council. It was what you would expect, and what being a leader and having a vision for the future is about.
And now Councillor Pate is applying his own stamp and making a very conscious break with the past way of doing things. The Barrow years looked to radical, innovative solutions. Councillor Pate's tenure looks like it is going to be characterised by a more conservative, with a small 'c', approach. Some will see it as traditional.
He also says he wants to run a more transparent council – hear, hear to that.
Margaret Thatcher would of course be spinning in her grave, but in the situation in which the council finds itself it needs to make friends rather than enemies if it is to be able to tackle the challenges ahead and, by and large, carry the public with it as it makes decisions which will cause controversy.
There are always differences about the best way forward, which is why being a leader is tough. People look to your foresight to make judgments – the wisdom of which will be determined by hindsight.
