Cllr Guy Lambert Steps Down from Cabinet Voluntarily
Cites advancing age and frustration with workings of local government
Brentford West councillor Guy Lambert
May 13, 2024
Brentford West ward councillor Guy Lambert has announced that he is standing down from his position in Hounslow Council’s cabinet.
He was Cabinet Member for Highways, Recycling and Health Integration which gave him responsibility for highways, street cleaning and waste and recycling. He also attended board meetings of the council’s wholly owned service companies in the Lampton Group and had oversaw Health Integration in the borough.
Cllr Lambert was 72-years-old this weekend and was diagnosed with a serious illness 18 months ago. Although, he has made an almost complete recovery, he says that he has less energy than he once did and this was the main reason why he made this decision.
He also expressed some frustration with the way things are done in local government and, while being careful to clarify that he did not intend to criticise the leadership of Shantanu Rajawat, this also had a bearing on his choice. He endorsed the commitment, intellect and policy direction of the council leader.
He said, “I have a long experience as a senior manager and a director of a large company and the style of management in the council is not what I have been used to and I find the way it works is sometimes frustrating. There are different pressures on a public body than those on a commercial company and this leads to difficulties from time to time. But this is more about me seeking a different life given my age and I think I am better concentrating on my role as a ward councillor for Brentford West. I remain passionate about Brentford and am looking forward on concentrating on that, and I expect I will continue to put my oar in on the council’s wider responsibilities.
“Being a councillor, which started as an engaging hobby, has taken over too much of my life and it’s time to spend more of my energy on other matters. It is also very tiresome being accused of venality and corruption. I am neither, and I am lucky to not depend on an income from the cabinet post, being retired with pension and a quite modest lifestyle. I am also not a natural politician, though of course I am a socialist. I’m someone who wants to improve my bit of the world as best I can and I find political posturing very tiresome, even if sometimes I get drawn into arguments, which is rather against my nature. By the way, I don’t ever tell lies, at least about matters in the public sphere: sometimes I will withhold things that are confidential or sensitive to do with the local area or about plans within the council. A good example currently is the new tenant of the old Morrisons shop, where the landlord has asked me to withhold the name of the new tenant expected to appear very soon.”
Cllr Lambert says that he will continue to write his weekly update which is published on this site for which he hopes the volume will reduce given his pared responsibilities.
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