Brian Coleman


Brian Coleman FRSA is a former Independent Conservative politician and a former councillor in the London Borough of Barnet. He was a Conservative Party member of the London Assembly for Barnet and Camden between 2000 and 2012, and in Barnet was Mayor from 2009 to 2010. He was also chairman and leader of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority from May 2008 to 5 May 2012.
Coleman was reprimanded in 2009 and 2011 for sending abusive emails to local residents who criticised him, breaching the council's code of conduct.
After being charged with assault in October 2012, Coleman's membership of the Conservative Party was suspended. In May 2014, Coleman stood for re-election at the local elections as an independent candidate in the Totteridge ward, but failed to be elected, gaining only 6% of the vote.

Politics and controversy

Coleman was a consistent opponent of redevelopment plans by Barnet Football Club, including their proposed move to Copthall Stadium and in May 2013 he said he rejoiced and called for the church bells of Barnet to be rung to celebrate the club's demotion from the Football League.
During the subsequent Copthall application by Saracens rugby club, Coleman went on record as saying that his Boris Johnson would never allow Saracens to build a new joint-use community stadium. Both the Council and Boris Johnson passed the application despite Coleman's opposition. He was a critic of Hendon Football Club and the London 2012 Olympic Bid.
Following the 7 July 2005 bombings in London, Coleman questioned on radio how safe it was for Londoners to travel by public transport. He is against the proposal for the North and West London Light Railway. In 2009 he said "It's not feasible, it won't happen. Ideas like this are thought up by men who probably still have a train set in the attic." In June 2006 he criticised the planned refurbishment of Potter's Fields Park, saying that it should be replaced by a multi-storey car park
In April 2004 Coleman was against Middlesex University's plans to expand its Trent Park campus because it was "a crap university" that could "only attract foreign" students.
It was announced in June 2008 that he was to receive an honorary doctorate from Middlesex University for his "outstanding commitment to the community".
In August 2006 Coleman criticised protesters against a provision of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 as "sad, mad and bad". On the restrictions on the right to demonstrate, he stated "It's not a matter of free speech – it's a matter of a proper way of running a world city".
In August 2007, residents of New Barnet campaigning on the environmental and transport details connected with the redevelopment of the East Barnet School site, were criticised by Coleman as "idiots" and "the usual Nimby brigade". The previous month Coleman was the only objector to the erection of a wind turbine at Frith Manor Primary School, as he believed it was "out of character in the green belt".
In 2002, Coleman announced his intention to seek the Conservative Party nomination to be candidate for Mayor of London, but he was rejected at a very early stage. During the 2005 Conservative Party leadership election, Coleman publicly supported David Davis. In April 2007, Coleman gained some publicity when he claimed that the former prime minister Edward Heath was homosexual and that it was "common knowledge" in the Conservative party that he had been told to keep it secret for the sake of his career. Writing on the website of the New Statesman on the issue of outing, he said: "The late Ted Heath managed to obtain the highest office of state after he was supposedly advised to cease his cottaging activities in the 1950s when he became a privy councillor."
An article by Coleman, "Politics and alcohol" for the New Statesman in August 2007 alleged that Sir Ian Blair the Metropolitan Police Commissioner was "somewhat the worse for wear at a number of official functions" and "needed assistance from his protection officers to manage the stairs". Then-Mayor Ken Livingstone reportedly responded that "The London Assembly should stop giving a platform to a person who in addition to putting out all sorts of smears and gossip is also a dyed-in-the-wool Thatcherite who in no way represents the views of most Londoners".
In late August 2008, an article by Coleman in the Barnet Press caused another minor media storm. He wrote that the British athletes were "tainted with the blood of Tibetans", and that London mayor Boris Johnson was "forced to go to Beijing to collect the Olympic flag". Coleman's comments received cross-party criticism and the Mayor distanced himself from the remarks made by his fellow Conservative.
Brian has served as the Deputy Chairman Political of the Finchley and Golders Green Conservative Association since 2025.

Barnet Council

Coleman was elected as councillor for the London Borough of Barnet Council's Totteridge ward in 1998. Immediately following the local government election in May 2006, Coleman successfully proposed a vote of no confidence in the leader of the borough council, Councillor Brian Salinger, triggering an election in which Salinger was replaced as Leader by Councillor Mike Freer.
Coleman is a former chairman of the Finchley Friends of Israel and remains a member of Conservative Friends of Israel. A governor at two local Secondary Schools, he is also active in the Rotary Club and is a vocal supporter of the rights of Falun Gong practitioners and the Greek Cypriot community.
Coleman was the Conservative spokesperson for equalities in the Greater London Assembly.
Coleman was Mayor of Barnet from May 2009 to May 2010.

First breach of council code of conduct

In September 2009 Coleman was found to have broken Barnet Council's code of conduct. The standards sub-committee upheld an independent report that he had failed to treat others with respect. The complaint was made by a local blogger who had received an email from Coleman calling him an "obsessive, poisonous individual".
Council leader Mike Freer granted Coleman £10,000 of taxpayers' money to pay for legal representation during the Standards Committee investigation, as Coleman had rejected the solicitors provided by the council's insurance scheme. When the local paper approached Coleman before they published this information, he told them that "This has absolutely nothing to do with me, nothing whatsoever, and if you say otherwise you will be hearing from my solicitor."
Despite finding Coleman in breach of the code, the standards sub-committee decided not impose any sanction on him. He would be liable to reimburse the council for the legal bill.

Second breach of council code of conduct

In 2011 Coleman was again investigated for an alleged breach of Barnet Council's code of conduct, this time for a series of abusive emails to four Barnet residents. The council's investigator additionally found him to have breached another code in not co-operating with the investigating officer. The Standards Sub-Committee of Barnet Council met on 5 March 2012 to consider the investigator's report and found that Coleman had indeed breached the code of conduct in respect of two of the four allegations; he was ordered he write letters of apology within 14 days. A demonstration of support for Coleman's views, claiming that the campaign against him was anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic, took place outside the hearing at the Hendon Town Hall.
Coleman appealed to the First-tier Tribunal against the ruling, but his appeal was rejected. Coleman still refused to comply with the tribunal's order that he should apologise, as the council was reportedly looking for possible sanctions. Barnet Conservative group leader Richard Cornelius was reported to be furious for Coleman's failure to apologise. Barnet Council later sought to recover legal costs arising from his unsuccessful legal defence. Coleman appeared to have apologised at last, after Conservative group leader Cornelius confirmed that he was beginning the process of suspending Coleman from the Conservative group.

Parking petition

In February 2012, an East Finchley resident accused Coleman of ignoring a petition with 290 signatures from residents in East Finchley requesting a review into 10-minute free parking arrangements in front of a post office. Coleman said the suggestion was unworkable and would reduce revenue. Martin Buhagiar, group editor of the North London Times and Independent series newspapers, opined that "Manners maketh man" and that "Coleman seems to enjoy giving taxpayers the impression he does not have any". He encouraged voters to take action at the ballot box.

Allowances for Councillors

In July 2010 Brian Coleman participated in and defended as "sensible" a decision by Barnet's Tory Councillors to award large increases in allowances to council cabinet members. This was against a backdrop of a two-year pay freeze for public sector workers and national cabinet members taking a 5% cut in pay and was widely criticised, by Local Government Minister Grant Shapps and others. Conservative Councillor Kate Salinger abstained from voting on the increase and was subsequently removed from several forums, panels and committees she had sat on.

Pro-car policy

During his time as a councillor in the London Borough of Barnet, Coleman has built up a reputation as an outspoken supporter of car driving, leading Richard Littlejohn to label him a "hero" for introducing a policy of removing road humps when the roads of Barnet are resurfaced. Coleman quotes the Metropolitan Police and the London Ambulance Service as being supporters of this policy, while road safety critics argue that the policy is reckless and driven by populism and self-promotion.
Coleman was caught by a speed camera exceeding a 30 mph speed limit in Borehamwood in January 2006. He already had nine penalty points on his driving licence. On 9 August 2006 at the St Albans Magistrates' Court, Coleman was given a further three points on his licence, banned from driving for six months and fined £300.
In August 2007 Coleman received an apology from the BBC after he had complained that the appearance of Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq at the media launch of a London cycling event was political. Speaking at the launch, the then Mayor of London and a Green party assembly member had accused Conservatives of pursuing a pro-car policy.
In February 2009 Coleman commented on a proposed off-road light-rail line that would reconnect the two branches of the Northern Line in Barnet, as well as linking to Ealing Broadway, Wembley, Brent Cross and West Hampstead. He described the scheme as "bonkers" and insulted those in favour of it.
In May 2010 Coleman returned to Barnet's Cabinet taking the Environment and Transport portfolio. He stated that his priority would be "roads, roads, roads and roads".