A new London MP will not be giving up his seat on a local council and will juggle both roles, though he’s said he will not take the allowance for being a councillor on top of his MP salary.
Ben Coleman, the Labour MP for Chelsea and Fulham and former Deputy Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, took the parliamentary seat from the Conservatives for the first time at this summer’s General Election.
This comes week after Jim Dickson, who represents the Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction ward in Lambeth, also said he will continue in his role despite having been elected as an MP. He told the LDRS there will be a by-election, but that residents and officers ‘deserve a rest’ after ‘two major elections in the last three months’.
Mr Coleman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) on the night that he was “absolutely delighted” to have won the seat, and that he is “determined to do the best I can for everybody in the constituency”. But he will be balancing his new role of representing people in Westminster with advocating for his ward constituents on Hammersmith and Fulham Council, something critics argue he can’t effectively do.
First elected to the West London council in 2014, Mr Coleman was also the local authority’s Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care. Following July’s general election, Mr Coleman stood down from his Cabinet and Deputy Leader roles.
He still however appears as a councillor for the Lillie ward, which is located within his parliamentary constituency, on Hammersmith and Fulham’s website. A council spokesperson confirmed Mr Coleman remains as a councillor, though said he no longer receives payment for his work, through the councillor’s allowance which equates to £11,520 a year.
However on his parliamentary register of interests, Mr Coleman lists having received £1,354 from the council on July 15 for roughly 20 hours work. The LDRS understands this is because he decided at the end of July to refuse his councillor allowance moving forward. He returned his Deputy Leader allowance, which had been paid by the council in its July payroll, and subsequently decided to also reimburse his basic allowance from July 5 onwards. He will still receive the £91,346, plus expenses he gets as an MP.
Mr Coleman is now reportedly waiting for Hammersmith and Fulham to confirm the sum to return, following which the Register of Interests will be amended accordingly. A spokesperson for Mr Coleman told the LDRS: “Ben chose to give up his councillor allowance after the election, but as his local ward is also part of his parliamentary constituency, he continues to represent and support its residents as he has done for the last 10 years.”
Cllr Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler, Leader of the Conservative opposition on the council, said she would like to congratulate Mr Coleman on his success in July. However, she added she has “very grave concerns” regarding him remaining as a councillor. “The residents of Lillie ward deserve a dedicated councillor for their many pressing questions and issues with LBHF (London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham) Council,” she said. “I have my doubts that Coleman can perform two important political jobs to the standard expected, whether he’s paid or not.”
Cllr Brocklebank-Fowler further suggested Labour are “frightened” to hold a by-election in the ward because they might lose the seat. In response, a Hammersmith and Fulham Labour spokesperson said: “Given the Conservatives’ appalling record in Hammersmith and Fulham, including selling off housing estates, attempting to shut Charing Cross Hospital, lack of engagement in the council scrutiny process and even asking residents to drive across the borough to attend councillor surgeries, we won’t be taking any lessons from them on representing and supporting residents.”
Cllr Sharon Holder, Cabinet Member for Public Realm and Lead Member for Inclusive Community Engagement and Co-production, is the other Lillie ward representative. Mr Coleman is one of a number of London councillors elected to Parliament in the summer.
