Eric Pickles

In GE-2015 election, Tory minister Eric Pickles warned that an energy price cap would lead to energy shortages and power blackouts. ref
Pickles, the incoming Secretary of State responsible for the Audit Commission, instructed a small group of civil servants to establish how the Commission could be abolished and how this proposal could best be presented. From this developed one of the most prominent storylines within the pro-abolition discourse coalition Excellent discourse on the importance of language, and the pattern and evolution of storylines: "Talk frames an issue". Abolishing the Audit Commission: Framing, Discourse Coalitions and Administrative Reform, 2015

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Jun.09.2018: How politics works. 2015: Sir Eric Pickles tells The Spectator that he has no interest in going to the House of Lords. “Get a grip on yourself,” he tells the interviewer. 2018: Sir Eric “very pleased” to become Baron Pickles. Atticus: Roland White, The Times.

May.21.2018: May names 9 new Tory peers to bolster party after Brexit defeats. ... Eric Pickles, who was party chair under David Cameron and local govt secretary during the Coalition, is close to the prime minister. At his final PMQs before the 2017 election when he stood down, May called him “my chum”. During his tenure as a minister, local councils’ budgets were slashed by 20%. Dan Sabbagh, Anne Perkins, The Guardian.

Feb.22.2018: Blame Eric Pickles for councillors guzzling high on the hog. No one’s watching over what councils do or spend, because scrutiny bodies were abolished on Eric Pickles's watch. Even though it was a Tory creation, he went for the Audit Commission and the Standards Board (Standards Board for England) - the Local Government Association whooped. No need for ethics, he seemed to think, leave them to the obscure function inside councils that has existed since 1989 called the "Monitoring Officer", who is supposed to oversee the "constitution", check maladministration and be responsible for the conduct of councillors and officers. t’s to the Monitoring Officer that Robert Davis, deputy leader and former planning chief has now referred himself. David Walker, The Guardian.

Oct.02.2017: Iain Dale’s 100 most influential people on the Right 2017. Former Party Chairman. Eric Pickles stood down at the election, which is a shame as he is someone respected on all sides of the Party. He is the co-author of the party inquest into the election result, and I will be interested to see if Sir Eric has learned the art of caveating. Let’s hope not, and he says it how it is, because the Party as a whole deserves better than a whitewash. Iain Dale, Conservative Home.

Sept.10.2017: European Research Group - Who’s In It. The Young Britons' Foundation reservss a special award, the Golden Dolphin, for those who merit particular admiration for their courage and leadership: Eric Pickles, for proudly standing by the Young Britons' Foundaton in its darkest hours and for his dedication to Thatcherite principles in public office. Tim Fenton, Zelo Street.

Oct.03.2016: Iain Dale’s 100 most influential people on the Right. Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar. One of the best performing cabinet ministers in the Cameron-Clegg Ministry Iain Dale, Conservative Home.

Aug.13.2010: Audit watchdog axed by Pickles in austerity drive. Commission accused of 'shocking excesses' and staff told to form company to bid for contracts. The Audit Commission, the independent spending watchdog tasked with scrutinising local govt, became the highest-profile victim of the govt's austerity drive tonight as Eric Pickles, the Communities secretary, announced that he was scrapping it. The commission, which cost £200m a year to run and which was key to uncovering the scandal at Shirley Porter's Westminster council in the 1980s, had the job of overseeing how local govt and the NHS in England spends £200bn. Pickles' explained he was closing the watchdog down on account of a decade of "shocking excess". Pickles said the commission's responsibilities for inspecting local govt would pass to the National Audit Office, but private companies would now be invited to bid to carry out audits in order to drive down costs. John Denham, shadow local govt secretary, admitted he had been trying to reform the quango but that it shouldn't be abolished. Instead he described the move as "a determined attempt to ensure that taxpayers have no coherent information about the value for money of local services". Allegra Stratton, Damien Pearse, The Guardian.

Apr.29.2017: Sir Eric Pickles says female MPs are 'by and large better' than men. Former Conservative party chair tells BBC Radio 4 that women wanting to enter politics face an ‘enormous glass ceiling’ Anushka Asthana, The Guardian.