WHO GOES FIRST? - NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES ON THE CULTURE COMPANY BOARD

NINE members of the Capital of Culture Board are to be sacked in a new shake-up.

The move is official confirmation that Henshaw's original placemen and women have failed.
At the moment the Culture Board is made up of 23 Directors, all hand-picked by Sir Diddy.
They have done bugger all to make Capital of Culture a success except sit around once a month at the Town Hall after tucking into a sumptuous lunch, then bore everyone rigid with their talking shop, try to outdo each other in proclaiming their cultural expertise (sic, ed) , pat themselves on the back, congratulate everyone and anyone who gave them a fancy presentation on all the fantastic things that are going to happen (shurely some mistake? ed) and hope that, as night follows day, they would be getting a mention in the 2008 New Year's Honours List of Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

In other words, this is exactly the 'do nothing' role that Henshaw prescribed for them.

But now after the departure of Robbing Archer and the complete failure of the Culture Company to deliver anything it has promised, someone has obviously had enough of these stuffed shirts competing for self-aggrandisement. (My money is on Warren Bradley threatening to withdraw council support, ed).
Now the Board are being whittled down to just 14.
The 14 will include three council representatives (Bradley, Storey and Anderson).
The rest of them will have to fight it out for their places in the next month, with final decisions made on November 29th.
But there is even worse - the Board will now meet every THREE months! Again, official confirmation that their presence is useless. (If this isn't an admission of abject failure, I don't know what is, ed)
And there will also be a small Operational Board, replacing the current Executive Group, which will meet approximately every six weeks (This will be where the real power is carved up - just wait to see who is on this, ed)
An Advisory Group (another do-nothing body, set up just for appearances sake, ed) is also:

"being established to create a wider stakeholder group of key representatives, funding partners and other organisations who are not members of the Board. This group will meet twice a year to allow the Board to draw on the extensive field of expertise available." (Utterly fanciful bollocks. Do they think we were born yesterday? ed)

Which of the nine will be sacked, resign or find 'new opportunities' elsewhere will only be decided at the end of November, but no doubt a few will jump first.

Here is our forecast: Those who we think will go, are in red.

Prof Drummond Bone (Chairman) - Vice Chancellor, University of Liverpool (Bone-Head should go, but won't, ed)

Cllr Warren Bradley (Vice Chair) - Leader, Liverpool City Council

Loyd Grossman OBE (Vice Chair) - Chair, Culture NorthWest / Chairman, National Museums Liverpool

Susan Woodward OBE (Vice Chair) - Managing Director, ITV-Granada

Jason Harborow (Chief Executive) - Liverpool Culture Company (Harbarrowboy will have to stay unfortunately, though it is through Bradley's gritted teeth, ed)

Tony Wilson (Company Secretary) - Senior Partner, Hill Dickinson, Liverpool

Cllr Joe Anderson - Leader of the Opposition, Liverpool City Council

Tom Bloxham MBE - Chair, Arts Council England North West

Cllr Mike Storey CBE - Liverpool City Council

Prof Michael Brown DL - Vice Chancellor, Liverpool John Moores University (mate of Sir Diddy's)

Wally Brown CBE - Principal, Liverpool Community College

Sir Neil Cossons OBE - Chairman, English Heritage (he thinks its a complete disaster)

Louise Ellman - MP for Riverside

Cllr Ronnie Round - Leader, Knowsley Council

Ruth Gould - Creative Director, North West Disability Arts Forum

Bryan Gray - Chairman, Northwest Regional Development Agency

Roger Lewis - Chairman, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

Pat Loughrey - Director, BBC Nations & Regions

David McDonnell CBE DL - Chief Executive Worldwide, Grant Thornton International (who he?)

Roy Morris DL - Chairman, The Mersey Partnership (universally loathed by the politicians as a Henshaw acolyte)

Sir Bob Scott - International Director, Liverpool Culture Company (marginalised and irrelevant, but might be kept on because they feel sorry for him, ed)

Brenda Smith -Group UK Managing Director, Ascent Media

Andrew Worthington MBE - Chair, Sport England's Northwest Regional Sports Board

IF YOU THINK SOMEONE SPECIFIC SHOULD WALK THE PLANK, PLEASE SEND US HIS/HER NAME IN A COMMENT AND WE WILL KEEP A RUNNING TOTAL. WE WILL PASS ON THE MOST POPULAR CHOICE FOR THE ORDER OF THE BOOT TO COLIN 'COVER UP' HILTON.