William James Speechley (1936/7 – 19 April 2021) was a British politician. He was a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

councillor in

Crowland Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. la, Croilandia) is a town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland c ...

and leader of the Lincolnshire County Council. He was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1992, which was later stripped after his 2004 conviction for "

misconduct in a public office Malfeasance in office is often grounds for a just cause removal of an elected official by statute or recall election. Malfeasance in office contrasts with "misfeasance in office", which is the commission of a ''lawful'' act, done in an offici ...

" related to the route of the

A1073 road The A16 road is a principal road of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands region of England, connecting the port of Grimsby and Peterborough, where it meets the A1175, A47 & A1139 then on to the A1 and the A605; the latter, in turn, giving a ...

(Spalding to Eye bypass), after not declaring a conflict of interest that land he owned would increase significantly in value as a result. It was confirmed in court that he instructed a planning officer to alter the road route to benefit his own land's value to a considerable extent. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail. In March 2006 Speechley's successor as council leader,

Ian Croft Ian Mitchell CroftDavid Bowles, who had initially reported Speechley to the police and given evidence against him. Speechley died on 19 April 2021 at the age of 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speechley, Jim 1930s births Year of birth uncertain 2021 deaths Conservative Party (UK) councillors People from Crowland Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century English criminals People stripped of a British Commonwealth honour British politicians convicted of corruption Leaders of local authorities of England Members of Lincolnshire County Council