Sir – It seems odd to me that Christopher Wickham considers the fact that the Tory candidate has contributed £90,000 to his own campaign is something the leader of the council can’t comment on (September 19).
The rules for declaring contributions to political campaigns are meant to identify people, like the Tory candidate, who make large donations to their own campaigns.
It seems to me that this is a matter of public interest and it’s perfectly reasonable for anyone to comment on.
I note that Mr Wickham ends with a snide aside that Councillor Lourie “draws a significantly higher salary than his predecessor Tony Arbour”.
As I recall, Tony Arbour used to draw a salary of £20,000 for being leader of the council and £50,000 as a Greater London Assembly member – two jobs he obviously felt he could do at once at a cost of £70,000. Looking at the Richmond website, I see that Coun Lourie draws significantly less in total.
MARTIN PIERCE
Leinster Avenue
East Sheen
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