BRADLEY GETS HIS MAN AS REGEN BOSS

An awful lot of bollocks has been talked about the appointment of John Kelly as the city council's new regeneration chief.
Labour have been complaining that Kelly's appointment was stitched up in advance and that no attention was paid to the other applicants.
Of course it was stitched up!
Warren Bradley insisted that Kelly was appointed to the post and he was determined enough to ensure that his fellow Lib Dems voted the way he wanted.
What's so surprising about that? It may not be a fair and transparent appointment process, but there is no such thing in Liverpool.
Henshaw's corrupt regime at the city council was constantly characterised by stitched up appointments of people Sir Diddy favoured or who would do his bidding (even if Mike Storey didn't want them, ed).
How else does anyone think McElhinney came to be appointed from Knowsley?
Cos he was Storey's choice?

Don't make me laugh.
Henshaw shooed in his rottweiller. Just like he shooed in Halsall and all the others.
All that is happening now is that Bradley, for once in his life, is asserting some control over council officers and ensuring that his hand-picked men (and sadly, they will be mainly men, ed) are the ones who get the jobs.
It's called realpolitik.
You may not like it, but learn to live with it - especially when its exercised by councillors - at least they are accountable for the people they appoint.
The alternative is to ignore proven experience and talent by making appointments based instead on a beauty parade of candidates who perform best at interview.
Hence the appointment of complete bullshitters like Kris Donaldson at Culture.
Performed brilliantly at interview - but absolutely hopeless at his job. A man who can't even decide when to cross the road.
The truth is that for a whole host of reasons, and despite noticeably lacking some human and personal qualities, John Kelly was undoubtedly the best appointment for Liverpool.
For a start, he is probably the city council's only fully paid up intellectual.
(And amongst those pygmies, he stands out a mile. Observing the completely blank faces of his colleagues around the table at meetings is an utter joy.)
Secondly and most importantly, he was amongst a group of senior officers in Regeneration who, under the direction of the departing Charlie Parker, helped Mike Storey compile his dossier on McElhinney, Halsall and The 08 Place, Summer Pops etc, etc. (More power to his elbow then, ed)
Thirdly, he was one of the few senior council officers to loudly condemn Henshaw's evil cabal for their attempted coup d'etat against Storey. He accurately compared it to the head of the civil service trying to depose the Prime Minister.
Fourthly, he hates McElhinney. (Say no more, ed)
He was one of the few senior officers who accurately identified McElhinney's vicious bullying streak.
At one memorable event, Kelly demonstrated his theory to onlookers by using his considerable height to 'accidentally' bump into the rottweiller, who like the authentic bully he truly is, instantly recoiled in terror when physically confronted. (Why didn't they just make this guy the chief exec? He sounds a top man! ed)
Fifthly, he had the good sense to twice turn down cast-iron invitations from Storey to become chief exec of Capital of Culture and replace the Harbarrowboy.
At the time, this was seen as a blow - now it is clear that Kelly was displaying great common sense and that he plans to be around a long time after the damp squib of 08 is long forgotten.
Sixthly, Henshaw was gloriously intimidated both by Kelly's intellectual supriority and by his physical stature - he's about 6 foot 6 inches and made Sir Diddy appear as puny as he is.
And seventhly (that's enough reasons, you have persuaded us, ed) he is well-liked because he is a genuinely good and decent guy who believes in old fashioned stuff like democracy, truth and justice.
And although a resident of Eccles, he now appears to have made Liverpool his spiritual home.
Kelly is one of the few clever, dedicated and conscientious officers working for the city.
He believes in Liverpool.
And he won't be afraid to take on Hilton or Halsall, who he loathes, or any of the other cabalists who rightly fear his increasing influence and popularity.
Which is exactly why Bradley wanted him so badly.
Kelly could now easily turn Regeneration into the rival city power base which it has long promised to become. He may even be able to make it deliver.
He is just the sort of guy, Labour should now be considering as a potential future chief executive...