Dame Shirley, Lady Porter DBE (née Cohen; born 29 November 1930) is a British politician who led Westminster City Council in London from 1983 to 1991, representing the Conservative Party.
She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1991 by John Major after delivering victory in Westminster for the Conservatives in the 1990 local elections.
While leader of Westminster City Council, Porter oversaw the "Building Stable Communities" policy — later described as the "homes for votes scandal" — and was subsequently accused of gerrymandering.
Her father, Jacob Edward "Jack" Cohen, was the founder and owner of Tesco, and her mother was Sarah "Cissie" (née Fox), the daughter of a master tailor.
"[10] In 1974, she was elected to Westminster City Council as a Conservative councillor for Hyde Park Ward and soon became involved in anti-litter campaigns.
[12] After delivering victory in Westminster for the Conservatives in the 1990 local elections, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 New Year Honours by prime minister John Major for "political and public service".
'"[15] Despite sitting on the Highways and Works Committee, which was responsible for street cleaning and refuse collection, Porter did not mention litter again until late 1976 following a visit to Leningrad and Moscow.
On her return she told the Paddington Mercury of her distaste for the Soviet regime but continued "one thing they must be given credit for is the cleanliness you find everywhere...
She also mobilised schoolchildren in her campaign, raising brooms over their shoulders like rifles at the Lord Mayor's Show and singing "Pick up your litter and put it in the bin".
By 1978, Porter had been elected as chairman of the Highways and Works Committee, in the same year she launched the "Mr Clean Up" anti-litter campaign.
Within weeks of the sale it became apparent that the new owners had no interest in the upkeep of the cemeteries, leading to complaints from relatives about their condition and investigations by the district auditor John Magill and local government ombudsman David Yardley.
In 1992 the Council agreed to buy back the cemeteries for over £4 million, not including the valuable land and buildings that had been part of the original sale.
Fearing that they would eventually lose control unless there was a permanent change in the social composition of the borough, Porter instituted a policy known as Building Stable Communities as a cover for implementing secretive projects designed to bring more Conservative voters into marginal wards in Westminster.
The wards selected were Bayswater, Little Venice, Millbank, St James's, Victoria, Cavendish, West End and Hamilton Terrace.
[23] Another vital part of Building Stable Communities policy was the removal of homeless voters and others who lived in hostels and were perceived less likely to vote Conservative, such as students and nurses, from the City of Westminster.
[24] Labour councillors and members of the public referred the key wards policy to the district auditor to check on its legality.
[25] In 1990, the Conservatives were re-elected in Westminster in a landslide election victory in which they won all but one of the wards targeted by Building Stable Communities.
[28] This judgement was upheld by the High Court in 1997 with liability reduced solely to Porter and her Deputy Leader, David Weeks.
[30][31] The Court of Appeal overturned the judgement by a majority decision in 1999, but the House of Lords unanimously reinstated it in 2001, with a surcharge of £27m levied on Porter.
[34] In Israel, Porter transferred substantial parts of her great wealth to other members of her family and into secret trusts to avoid the charge and subsequently claimed assets of only £300,000.
[36] In 2004, the still Conservative controlled Westminster City Council and the Audit Commission announced that an agreement had been reached with Porter for a payment of £12.3 million in settlement of the debt.
[43] In a review for The Guardian of Nothing Like a Dame, Porter's biography by journalist Andrew Hosken, Nicholas Lezard described her in the following terms: "She remains, by a considerable margin, the most corrupt British public figure in living memory, with the possible exception of Robert Maxwell".
[47] In 2018, a stage adaptation of the play starred Jessica Martin as Porter and had a brief run at the Playground Theatre in North Kensington, west London.