The Two Desperate Women Failed.

“It seems to me that two desperate women, one for more power and one for more money, have made a pact, an alliance” were the opening words of the final sentence of my article entitled Opposition Parties Shocked by Mayor Lorente's New Press Officer Appointment in Orihuela Costa! which I published on this weblog on the 7^th December 2010, about the appointment of Louise Clarke as the personal press officer of Monica Lorente.

Ten months have passed and it is interesting to see how the two desperate women have faired with their liaison.

They both failed in their ambitions!

In the local elections in May of this year Monica Lorente failed to be re-elected as Mayor of Orihuela. She was desperate for four more years of power but she and her Partido Popular colleagues failed to get the number of votes necessary to get sufficient Councillors elected to hold a majority in the Council Chamber.

In December 2010 when I discussed with Louise Clarke her new appointment she said “My job is to get Monica Lorente more votes on the coast,..... I will be the voice of the PP within the Town Hall in Orihuela Costa”. It would seem by the election results in May 2011, She failed in her role, as Monica Lorente and the PP lost their power. When Louise left her previous employment with the local 'Round Town Newspaper' it was to benefit from a substantial increase in salary, for more money. As a result of the departure of Monica Lorente from the position of Mayor, Louise lost her very well paid employment as press officer. Her second failure.

Where are they now?

Well Monica Lorente is still a Councillor in Orihuela but leading the Opposition, not the Government.

Louise Clarke has now returned to her old job, presumably with a much lower salary than with the PP, being a reporter with the Round Town News newspaper. In a recent article in the paper she wrote “I am a great believer in fate and after having spent the first six months of this year at the Orihuela Costa Town Hall as Press Officer (and unofficial British Residents Officer) it was fate that I would be invited, during my first official week back at RTN, to meet Denise Wesserling, the new Coastal Residents Officer in Orihuela Costa. I am happy that I had the opportunity to experience working at the Town Hall, but I am glad that my ‘sabbatical’ (as I am calling it) is over and that I am back to doing what I do best, where I belong: at RTN”. In December 2010 she didn't feel that she belonged at RTN! She felt that she belonged with Monica Lorente and the PP, and where the substantially increased salary was!

Louise Clarke, "Please don´t compromise your talent and your reputation".

Continuing on from my previous articles about Louise Clarke in her role as the recently appointed personal press officer for the Partido Popular Mayor of Orihuela, Monica Lorente, I was interested to read the following letter in the CoastRider newspaper this week.

To the Editor

I have been very concerned about the openly political role that Louise Clarke has been forced to take since January 2011 when she became the newly appointed Press Officer in Orihuela Costa Town Hall.

Before she took up post, the publicity she created around her appointment conveyed how pleased she was to be working for the people of Orihuela Costa in the International office in the Town Hall.

I don’t think the post has turned out to be quite what she expected!

On a fine salary paid for by tax payers money, she has been appointed, I believe, to do nothing more than promote Monica Lorente and the Partido Popular so they convince us that they have been the “best thing since sliced bread” for Orihuela Costa. Louise is clearly working very hard as we are getting more than ample exposure to MS Lorente, every week in every paper, free or otherwise. But of course it is election time in May and a lot hangs on those results!

When Louise announced she was going to work for the PP- sorry- Orihuela Costa Town Hall- all her friends in the opposition parties warned her about being used for political ends. Spain is a highly political society. Town Halls are run on party lines and party loyalties. If you have a job in the Town Hall you work for the Mayor and their political party.

As someone who has known you for a few years, my feeling is Louise, that it is going to get worse the closer we get to the elections. Just think about your reputation here. You are a good Journalist .

Please don´t compromise your talent and your reputation.

Sarah Hill

In addition to the link to my articles about Louise Clarke's appointment there is another coincidental link to the article questioning the political status of the Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch.

The Editor of the CoastRider found the letter by Sarah Hill of sufficient interest and without offensive comments to publish it. This is the same Sarah Hill who was the author of a comment on the Orihuela Costa Vecinos Colaborando Facebook page that was deleted with the reason given, in the words of the Editor of that page, as "the offensive comment from someone else was immediately deleted and as a result the person who had just joined removed from the site". Could her comment have been that offensive and so different from the tone of the language in her letter above? She has responded to the statement by the OCVC with two comments posted to my article.

It seems to me there is a common theme in these articles in that they relate to the projection and protection of the image to the public of the Partido Popular in the Orihuela Town Council.

Previous articles:
Opposition Parties Shocked by Mayor Lorente's New Press Officer Appointment in Orihuela Costa!
Louise Clarke is disgusted at some claims about her new Press Officer Job
CLR party accuses Orihuela Costa Town Hall press officer of Misuse of Public Administration and Trust
Mayor Monica Lorente's press officer knew what she was doing,