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She was born Shirley Cohen, in Clapton, London, the daughter and heir of Jack Cohen, the founder of Tesco supermarkets. She married Leslie Porter in 1949. In 1974 she was elected to Westminster City Council as a Conservative councillor for Hyde Park Ward. In the early 1980s she chaired the Environment Committee, calling for strict enforcement of litter laws. In 1983 she was elected as Leader of the Council.

The Conservatives were narrowly re-elected in Westminster in the 1986 elections. Fearing that they would lose control unless there was a change in the social composition of the City, she instituted a secret policy known as "Building Stable Communities". An important part of this policy was the designation of much of the City's council housing for sale rather than re-let, should the flats become vacant. The designated housing was concentrated in wards which were the most likely to change hands in the elections.

Shirley Porter, who had been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand Cross (G. Knight or Dame Commander in 19911991 like 2002, is a palindromic year. It also has the same calendar as 2002, including Easter on March 31. It is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January January 2 Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first blac, stood down as Leader of the Council that year, and served as Lord Mayor in 1991-92. In the early 1990s she was chairman of Chelverton Investments, which owned London radio station LBCLBC Air Date October 8 1973 Frequency 97. 3 MHz Broadcast Area London Style News Group Chrysalis Group LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company is Britain's first commercial independent local radio station, providing a service of news and informati. In 1993 station was unsuccessful in renewing its licences and Chelverton Investments went bankrupt in 1994. She resigned from the Council in 1993 and retired to live in IsraelThis article discusses the State of Israel. For other meanings of Israel see Israel (disambiguation). The State of Israel Medinat Yisrael in Hebrew, Daulat Israil in Arabic) is a country in the Middle East on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea..

In 19961996 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty''. Events January January 5 Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone Jan the District Auditor concluded that the "Building Stable Communities" policy had been illegal and ordered Shirley Porter and five others to pay the cost of the illegal policy, which he calculated as £27,000,000. This judgement was upheld by the High Court in 19971997 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of the Reef''. Events January January 3 NBC's Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time January 8 Mister Rogers receives a star on t with liability reduced to Shirley Porter and her Deputy Leader, David Weeks. The Court of Appeal overturned the judgement in 1999, but the House of Lords reinstated it in 2001.

Shirley Porter transferred all substantial parts of her wealth to other members of her family and into secret trusts in an effort to avoid the charge, and claimed assets of only £300,000. On April 24, 2004, Westminster City Council and the Audit Commission announced that an agreement had been reached for a payment of £12.3 million in settlement of the debt. The Council declared that the cost of legal action for greater recovery would be greater than the amount to be recovered, while Porter maintained her innocence. The decision has since been appealed by Labour members on the Council and the District Auditor is revisiting the issue.