Geoff Rowe was once a Lib Dem, councillor for Aylesford. He was a bit like a turmeric stain - he got in be accident and was almost impossible to remove. He clung-on not by his intellectual prowess or force of personality, but by managing to appear at the right place, at the right time and be photographed "pointing" at whatever local issue was causing concern.
After his two terms of office there was hardly a lamppost, paving slab, kerb-stone, piece of guttering or tree which hadn't been pointed at by Geoff Rowe. He seldom ever did anything about those issues, but by being photographed pointing at them and demanding "something must be done" he managed to claim credit when someone did it.
So within C&A whenever I ask a councillor to point at something for a newsletter, it's known as "doing a Geoff Rowe". I suppose having the local Conservative Party adopting his name into its own folklore is a tribute of sorts, even if for all the wrong reasons.
By way of example, here is local Conservative Councillor (who defeated Geoff Rowe at the ballot box) doing a "Geoff Rowe" by a lamp post. I was actually quite proud of this one - the headline was "John Balcombe brings light to life"
Anyway - beware! I have just been sent a link for a new Blog. It's called Glum Councillors, and its mission:
"This blog will doggedly collate images of councillors looking glum whilst pointing at holes in the road, wearing hard hats or presenting oversized cheques. Let's celebrate the work of our local elected representatives!"
Some of it is very amusing: http://glumcouncillors.tumblr.com
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