Local government reporting

Since starting with the Scunthorpe Telegraph, I have been given the opportunity to pursue one of my passions in journalism, covering and scrutinising politics. Here, that mostly means North Lincolnshire Council.

A major story since I’ve started has been the re-development of Scunthorpe venue the Baths Hall. It’s sparked fierce political argument throughout my time here – both good natured and bad.

At the budget meeting in February it was announced the controversial project was being put on the back burner for a year in the face of capital budget shortfalls. Covering the budget is also a good opportunity to really take council stories out to the people: everyone wants to know what is happening to their council tax bills.

And with the focus on MPs expenses for most of 2009, council politicians have also faced closer scrutiny by local people.

Working politics gives plenty of great stories, from the Icelandic banking crisis writ large locally, funerals over a web-cam and exclusives about the senior management of children’s services.

Tour of Britain video

On Saturday, September 12, the Tour of Britain set off from Scunthorpe on its eight day race around the country. I covered the start and finish, in York, of the first stage, shooting video on the way on a Nokia N95 8gb. Together with other shots from my colleagues, I edited it together for the thisisscunthorpe.co.uk website.

Elliot Morley’s expenses

The expenses scandal which has engulfed the career of Scunthorpe MP Elliot Morley over the past two months has undoubtedly been the biggest story of my time at the Scunthorpe Telegraph so far.

On the day the story broke, I was the first and only reporter to interview Mr Morley about the allegations made against him. He told me the events of the day had left him “shattered”.

After initial coverage of the expenses story, a huge response fed into the Scunthorpe Telegraph website. An independent candidate, Stuart Maw, came forward and voters told me they had lost faith in their MP.

But Mr Morley said the reaction reaching him from voters had been more mixed. He signalled his intention to fight on and said he would clear his name.

But, despite his hope for vindication, on May 30 Mr Morley announced he would not seek re-election as Scunthorpe MP. Mr Morley said again he had made a genuine error. Tackling this story alongside a big press gathering was a new experience and one I hope to repeat again soon.

Following the announcement, I worked through the weekend to find out if Mr Morley’s move would be enough to satisfy his constituents. It quickly became clear the anger in Scunthorpe had not lessened in the weeks since the scandal broke.

In the days after the announcement, I kept in close touch with my contacts on the story to gauge feeling. For the first time since the story broke, Labour Party people began to talk about the story with ex-Scunthorpe MP John Ellis revealing his disappointment.

The release of all MPs’ expenses data led to another huge day’s work on the story. I trawled through the expenses documents in detail, uncovering thousands of pounds of claims made by Mr Morley and North Lincolnshire’s other MPs.

The story continued with more revelations showing Mr Morley had repaid another £20,000 after mistakenly claiming for mortgage capital in breach of House of Commons rules. Despite the latest trouble, the Labour group on North Lincolnshire Council stood by the MP’s decision to stay until the next election.

I am still following this story as it develops. A new Labour candidate will soon be selected, the Metropolitan Police may yet probe Mr Morley’s expenses and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards John Lyons is yet to report on the affair.