David Burbage

David Burbage is a British Conservative politician. He has been Leader of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead since 2007, representing Bray, Berkshire.

Background

Burbage was born and raised in Great Glen, Leicestershire, educated at schools in Kibworth and Market Harborough, then studied Computing Science at Imperial College London, chairing the Imperial College Conservative Society from 1986/7, having also held the post of News Editor at Imperial College Radio from 1985/6.

Leader of the Council

Elected for Bray in 2000, Burbage became Leader of the Council in May 2007^[1] when the Conservatives defeated the Liberal Democrats who had held the Council with a majority since 2003.

Burbage courted controversy when in January 2008 he proposed a motion significantly increasing councillors' allowances - a headline figure of a rise of 97% for backbench members of the council being widely used by his political opponents. The rises had been recommended by an Independent Renumeration Panel, but were ultimately the decision of the council members themselves. The move was contested by the main opposition Liberal Democrats.^[2][3] Burbage was himself a significant beneficiary of the rise receiving £26,045.63 in allowances in 2008/09 ^[4] , the first full year of the new allowances, compared to the £15,938.04 received by his predecessor in 2006/07, the last full year of the old allowances. ^[5]

In February 2009, Burbage proposed the Council motion on transparency that was to become national Conservative policy^[6] - that all expenditure over £500 should be published online.^[7] In another first for a UK local authority, Windsor and Maidenhead then launched Recyclebank,^[8] an incentive based recycling scheme that rewards residents for recycling.

In February 2010, Burbage's administration then cut the local Council Tax by 4%,^[9][10] the largest cut in UK history. This was followed up with a published letter to the Daily Telegraph^[11] on how Conservative councils were cutting Council Tax, headed by him, and signed by 34 Council leaders in response to comments from Labour's then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government John Denham.

However the 4% and the subsequent smaller cut in the following year in Council Tax have been attacked by the Liberal Democrats who have claimed that it has largely been achieved by increasing fees and charges for the services the council runs (like car parking,^[12] home care and day centres) and by cutting other services (like free swimming for the elderly), rather than by a genuine increase in The Royal Borough's efficiency.^[13][14]

Burbage writes a fairly regular blog,^[15] updated several times a month and also contributes articles^[16][17] to ConservativeHome.

In elections for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead on the 5th May 2011 Burbage led his Conservative Group to a resounding victory against the Liberal Democrats taking 51 out of 57 seats on the council.^[18]

National recognition

With Liam Maxwell, Burbage was invited to Liverpool to join the launch of David Cameron’s Big Society as one of just four vanguard areas on 19 July 2010.^[19]

In October 2010, Burbage was placed 59th in the The Daily Telegraph's listing of influential right wing politicians^[20] in the UK.

Political offices
Preceded by Mary Rose Gliksten	Leader of Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council 2007 – present	Incumbent

References

1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/6622071.stm Victory in 2007
2. ^ http://uk.sitestat.com/rbwm/rbwm/s?rtf.21996&ns_type=pdf&ns_url=http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/public/meetings_080129_council_minutes.doc
3. ^ http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/m/news/article-879-council-allowances-hike-to-7k/
4. ^ "ALLOWANCES PAID TO MEMBERS 2008/2009". Royal Brough of Windsor & Maidenhead. http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/public/members_allowance_claims2009_statement.pdf. 
5. ^ "ALLOWANCES PAID TO MEMBERS 2006/2007". Royal Brough of Windsor & Maidenhead. http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/public/members_allowance_claims2007_statement.pdf. 
6. ^ http://whatis.spotlightonspend.org.uk/newsroom/in_the_news/councils_urged_to_publish_data.aspx Eric Pickles calls for all Councils to follow the £500 trend
7. ^ http://conservativehome.blogs.com/localgovernment/2009/03/mark-wallace-wi.html Windsor and Maidenhead publish all expenditure over £500 online
8. ^ http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2243357/recyclebank-launches-first-uk First UK incentive based recycling scheme
9. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7036554/Windsor-and-Maidenhead-council-makes-history-with-biggest-ever-cut-in-council-tax.html Telegraph article on RBWM tax cut
10. ^ http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/153769/Windfall-for-Queen-as-council-tax-bill-is-cut Express article on 4% tax cut
11. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/7120417/Tony-Blairs-claim-that-Britain-is-a-safer-place-now-Saddam-Hussein-has-gone.html Letter to Telegraph in response to John Denham's low Council Tax claims
12. ^ Beech, Alastair. "Lib Dems fight parking charge rise". Maidenhead Advertiser. http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/m/news/article-537-lib-dems-fight-parking-charge-rise/. 
13. ^ Beech, Alastair. "Tories unveil lowest ever council tax rise in the borough". Maidenhead Advertiser. http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/m/news/article-9667-tories-unveil-lowest-ever-council-tax-rise-in-the-borough/. 
14. ^ "Budget given go ahead by councillors". Royal Borough Observer. http://www.windsorobserver.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2010/02/24/45005-budget-given-go-ahead-by-councillors/print/. 
15. ^ http://davidburbage.wordpress.com Politics in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
16. ^ http://conservativehome.blogs.com/localgovernment/2010/01/windsor-and-maidenhead-council-announce-4-council-tax-cut.html Announcing a 4% Council Tax cut
17. ^ http://conservativehome.blogs.com/localgovernment/2010/07/cllr-david-burbage-how-local-government-can-help-deliver-the-big-society-agenda.html ConHome article on the Big Society
18. ^ Trepte, Martin. "ELECTION RESULTS: Conservatives 51, Independents 5, Lib Dems 1". Maidenhead Advertiser. http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/article-21132-election-results-conservatives-51-independents-5-lib-dems-1/. 
19. ^ http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/m/leisure/article-17009-royal-borough-chosen-in-david-cameron-s-big-society-scheme/ Royal Borough Chosen in David Cameron’s Big Society scheme
20. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/8037566/Top-100-most-influential-Right-wingers-75-51.html "Telegraph’s Top 100 most influential Right-wingers: 75-51". 

Persondata
Name	Burbage, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth	Great Glen, Leicestershire
Date of death
Place of death