A musing in praise of Cllr Tony Belton ...

Written by Peter Bingle,Chairman, Bell Pottinger Public Affairs

On Sunday the Labour Group in Wandsworth deposed Tony Belton and replaced him with somebody called Rex Osborn (who I understand works in the public affairs industry). In doing so they ended the political career of one of the best Labour councillors in the country.

It is often said that all political careers end in failure. That doesn’t make it any easier when it happens either for Tony or for those of us who have come to respect and like him.

When I was first elected to Wandsworth in May 1982 Tony Belton was the Leader of the Labour Group. He was a scary figure for a young Tory councillor. Clever. Witty. Political through and through. Wonderfully partisan. Able to spot the weakness in any argument. I watched him and his brilliant deputy Francis Jones with a mixture of admiration and fear.

Over the next eight years his political fortunes ebbed and flowed. He was replaced as leader and yet his presence was always there. I chaired various committees during a six year period (1983-89). These were controversial and radical times. The one councillor who worried me was Tony Belton. He was able to spot an embarrassing fact or detail even though it had been buried on page 45 of a very detailed committee report. He was the person who I knew would ask an officer the one question I did not want asked. I could go on.

In the early 1980s Wandsworth started to privatise a large number of services. The absolute key to the success of the policy (Compulsory Competitive Tendering) was the detail in the specification documents. These determined what was expected in terms of service delivery and the penalties for failure. Tony Belton could have walked away from this exercise. He did the reverse. By putting huge pressure on all the relevant senior officers and committee chairmen the specification documents were very tough and uncompromising. Failure and poor service delivery were not acceptable in any circumstances. As a result the CCT policy not only worked but helped transform Wandsworth from being a swing borough to being one of the safest Tory councils in the whole wide world.

After I departed the scene in 1990 Tony remained part of the fixtures. During the last twenty years Wandsworth has changed as a borough and changed as a local council. Tony has changed too. He has mellowed hugely although he can still be wonderfully irascible when he wants to. Interestingly he has become hugely popular with many Tory councillors. At the count in May 2006 there was a real possibility that he would lose his Latchmere Ward seat. There was genuine pleasure amongst many Tory councillors when they realised that he had just held it.

In the 1980s when I was selling off council estates and privatising council caretakers and the like Tony Belton and I clashed a great deal. That didn’t stop us starting to respect each other. In 1989 Tony came to my stag night and over the years he has become a very good friend. When we lunch together we discuss politics and life. He is the best company.

What is so sad about the Labour Group’s decision is that 2011 is the fortieth anniversary of Tony being on Wandsworth Council. I was also looking forward to watching him deal with Ravi Govindia as I know they have a certain regard for each other. I doubt that we will see his like again. For the all the banter and political knockabout it is indisputable that he has played a huge role over the last forty years in making Wandsworth what it is today.