Northern Ireland Conservatives' spokesperson, Bill Manwaring, has welcomed the Environment Minister's pledge to stamp out double-jobbing councillors by 2014, but queried whether the SDLP is genuinely committed to ending dual mandates.
“Stopping MLAs and MPs from double-jobbing in the council chamber would definitely represent progress”, Bill pointed out, “but there is a startling contradiction at the heart of the policy which Alex Attwood outlined yesterday”.
“The Environment Minister's own party leader, Alasdair McDonnell, is still double-jobbing at Westminster and at Stormont, and has shown no inclination whatsoever to give up either of these roles.”
“The arguments against dual mandates being held at council and Assembly level are sound. Politicians should certainly concentrate on representing their constituents at one level of our electoral system. However the arguments against double-jobbing between Westminster and the Assembly are even more compelling.”
“At least local council positions have been traditionally part-time posts, usually held in conjunction with another job. In contrast, there is absolutely no way in which any politician can sit at Westminster and give his or her role at the Assembly the close attention that it deserves.”
“Mr Attwood is right to highlight double-jobbing among councillors, but to have any credibility on the issue he must persuade his party leader to step down from one of his roles. The environment minister should make sure that the beam is removed from the eye of the SDLP, before concentrating on motes elsewhere”.
“As it stands, the voters of South Belfast are the ones who are being seriously short-changed. They will have every right to call the SDLP on its hypocrisy”.