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Friday 14th October, 2005

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LEADER'S ‘CARIBBEAN CONSPIRACY’

ISLINGTON council leader Steve Hitchins made repeated phone calls to the Caribbean contacting the woman he wanted as the borough’s new Chief Executive, it was claimed at a misconduct hearing this week.
Within seconds of making the calls to Montserrat, Cllr Hitchins was on the line with fellow Lib Dem Margot Dunn, allegedly conspiring over the appointment of Helen Bailey.
Cllr Hitchins told the Adjudication Panel for England his recollection of events was “clouded by the passage of time”.
Five councillors and chief executive Ms Bailey are fighting for their professional reputations – and the councillors face being barred from office for up to five years.
The complaint, made by former Labour opposition leader Mary Creagh, is that the Lib Dems – Steve Hitchins, Bridget Fox, Margot Dunn, Jyoti Vaja and Dorrie Valery – “conspired” to appoint Ms Bailey to the £130,000 job in July 2002 because of her friendship with Cllr Hitchins.
The councillors have to pay their own legal fees, which currently run at around £200,000.

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