Schedule 1
Greater London Authority Bill
11:30 am
Bob Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst, Conservative)
I am following the hon. Gentleman’s point closely, as ever, but would he not concede that it is sometimes desirable to have a process such as that suggested by my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath as a safeguard to nominees who might wrongly be the subject of such a suspicion as the hon. Gentleman raises? Does he not concede that it could be thought, for example, that a Mayor might appoint an old friend and former colleague from other days as the deputy chairman of a significant functional body, because he had signed his nomination paper and been expelled from his political party for his pains in supporting the Mayor at an earlier stage? Would it not be better for a nominee—an admirable person—in such a situation to be able to say that he has the confidence and support of the assembly in its confirmation of office? I think that the hon. Gentleman gets my drift.