Full council is a “pointless waste of time” tweets councillor

Councillor Wera Hobhouse

A Rochdale Councillor has described full Council meeting as a “pointless waste of time.”

Councillor Wera Hobhouse spent last Wednesday’s (13 October 2010) full Council meeting tweeting via her mobile phone.

Her final post at the end of the meeting read: “Phew. Another Council meeting out of the way. Full Council meetings are such a pointless waste of time.”

Full Council meetings are held four times a year and see all of the borough’s councillors come together.

Speaking to Rochdale Online, Councillor Hobhouse said: “When I first became a councillor I made it public that full Council is my least favourite meeting. It is very bulky and very long. We have seen the things before and are just rubber stamping.

“Full Council is very regimental in asking questions and comments, and if you haven’t put your name forward you can’t make a comment.

“It doesn’t allow for proper debate, I like debate.

“It is a showcase, a political grandstand.”

“The only thing it is good for is because the press are there and they can pick up on certain issues. Which, I am not against.

“Also we have to remember, it costs money for all the officers to be there.

“Something has to be done to make it more fun and more interesting and include more debate.”

The Leader of the Labour Party, Councillor Colin Lambert described the tweet as “self indulgent”, he said: “Councillor Hobhouse very much describes herself. Her attendance is a pointless waste of time. She takes no part in the proceedings and is too busy tweeting malicious comments and not what she should be doing which is focusing on the betterment of the borough.

“It is totally wrong that she is concentrating on any other activity than the job at hand which is making things better for the borough. She is concentrating on herself and her self image."