Margaret Jackson has found herself plunged into the municipal spotlight and at the centre of criticism this year – but, she tells NICOLE REGAN, it’s all part of politics

Last updated 08:13, Friday, 22 August 2008

TAKING THE REINS: Margaret Jackson, deputy leader of Allerdale Borough Council

IF A WEEK is a long time in politics, then 25 years must be a life sentence.

But that’s not how Margaret Jackson sees it.

Considering the 59-year-old deputy leader of Allerdale council only entered politics to make up the numbers in a by-election, she’s now one of the most powerful people in the borough.

Thrust into the limelight earlier this year – leader Joe Milburn is on sick leave – she has come under huge criticism for leading the decision to employ a temporary part-time chief executive.

The criticism hurts, she says. “Of course it hurts, as a person, but it’s part of politics and something you just deal with.”

Her attitude can be traced back to a heart attack she suffered in 1995.

She cannot afford to get stressed, she says, as it will affect her health – and there’s no way she will allow that to happen.

Reiki helps with stress levels – and keeps her young – she says, and she learnt how to practise the alternative therapy not long after her heart attack.

When things get a bit much, the grandmother-of-two takes time out at home for Reiki.

Mrs Jackson spends about five or six hours a day working at the council’s Allerdale House in Workington, in the office she shares with Mr Milburn.

Although she defers to his leadership, when he’s working, they are a team and bounce ideas off each other.

“I support Joe and have a great respect for him. It was a little step to take on his role on a temporary basis, as we worked together on a lot of things.

“His role is more strategic but we mesh in together.”

Since the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and several Independents agreed to power share after the 2007 elections, Mrs Jackson has remained the silent member of the leadership partnership.

Mr Milburn is the face of Allerdale but she has been thrust into the limelight at a time when the ruling Alliance is under the most vocal criticism it has ever been.

There have been murmurings for a while in political circles that Mrs Jackson, whose portfolio is regeneration, sits on too many committees and outside bodies than any one person is capable of.

But she refutes this. “If they can say I’m not doing my job properly, that’s fine. But I’m doing it. It’s part of my portfolio that I’m on these committees.

“I get this question all the time. If I wasn’t managing, I would be handing things over to others.

“Regeneration is a huge area and it’s part of my day-to-day job.”

Regeneration is the buzz word for Allerdale council at the moment; it has massive projects on the go and news that it, with the county, is due to buy the former RNAD arms dump at Broughton Moor fills Mrs Jackson with delight.

The sale has been at least 10 years in the making and it was hoped last night that the deal will finally be signed this morning.

Then the marketing of it can begin.

Similarly, plans to give Workington new sports and leisure facilities on the banks of the River Derwent are now out to consultation.

Critics of the Alliance say that both schemes have been a long time coming, but Mrs Jackson defends the ruling party’s decision to take it slow and steady.

She says: “We have taken a step back to make an informed decision, rather than go ahead with what has gone before.

“We felt the public were saying in the election of May 2007 [when the Alliance took control of the previous Labour-led council] that they did not want that.

“If it’s taken a long time, then at least the decision we go for is an informed decision.”

Decisions and the Alliance is another political hot potato now.

Mrs Jackson and the ruling executive met privately – “not secretly” she points out – and agreed to recommend that the chief executive of Carlisle City Council, Maggie Mooney, take over the running of Allerdale on a part-time basis until a permanent replacement can be found.

That decision has been agreed by councillors but only after a heated debate last week.

Labour members felt it was a slap in the face for democracy and for the people of Allerdale – after all, they argue, how can a council with the projects that Allerdale has be run part-time?

But Mrs Jackson says she would do it all again in the same way.

“I think the Alliance is transparent and we went about it all the right way – but if there’s a perception we have been secretive, then we have to change that.

“But I can’t see how we’ve been secret. All the councillors get the agendas and minutes and are at the meetings.”

When challenged about the fact that minutes from the first private executive meeting about the chief executive role took a month to be published, rather than the usual ‘published five days after the meeting takes place’, she shoots back that it doesn’t mean they have to be published within those five days.

“The executive has a right to meet privately and discuss things,” she adds. “I don’t know how else I could have done it.”

Sometimes, politics – Labour versus Conservative versus Liberal Democrats versus Independents – gets in the way of the business of Allerdale council, she feels.

“The Alliance isn’t political any more. We’ve joined together under a banner; we’re a group of like-minded people who want to do their best for Allerdale. Politics distracts us from this sometimes. I want to do the best for my ward and by having this job I can do the best for more people in Allerdale.”