A councillor named as one of 12 high-ranking council representatives to attend the UK’s largest property networking conference last week has said he was never invited.

Former mayor and lead member for growth and identity Councillor Ken Smith was named among the group from Kingston Council that would attending MIPIM UK on the Kingston Futures website, set up by council.

The council had budgeted £13,000 to attend and have a stand at the conference. The three-day conference in London’s Olympia, that started on Wednesday, October 21, let local authorities meet multinational developers to talk about selling and developing council-owned sites.

Council leader Kevin Davis, Liberal Democrat Councillor Bill Brisbane and head officer of planning and transport Viv Evans were named alongside Coun Smith as manning Kingston Council’s stand.

But Coun Smith rang the Comet a day after an article on the conference attendees was published.

He said: “I was at a war memorial service this morning. How many days is it on for? I did not realise I was on any list.”

The people who attended MIPIM were: 

Council leader Kevin Davis
Councillor David Cunningham
Councillor Bill Brisbane
Officer Roy Thompson
Officer Viv Evans
Officer Jamie Fox
Officer Julia Nunes-Carvalho
Officer Charles Uzzell
Officer Karl Limbert
Officer Eric Owens
Officer Phil Clement
Officer Jason Ashby
Officer Taryn Biddulph