Tory leadership in crisis – again… 24 February, 2012
Posted by Jeremy Rowe in News, Politics.Tags: Conservatives, Cornwall Council, Openness and Transparency
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In what has come to be known as the ‘post-democratic era’ at Cornwall Council, I thought there was very little that could still surprise me about the endless conspiracy and back-biting that swirls around the authority’s Conservative Group. All that changed today, however.
As you may have seen elsewhere, the Deputy Leader of the Tory group has resigned his position, citing skullduggery over the Stadium project and a broader disaffection with Alec Robertson’s leadership style. There are a couple of passages in Scott Mann’s resignation letter which are pure dynamite:
After much thought I have decided to resign from my position as deputy leader of our group. I’m afraid that the straw that broke the camels back is the funding of the stadium for Cornwall. Although the group are generally supportive of the stadium they have made it clear on two separate occasions that no tax payer funding should be used. However a report is now being presented asking for 12-16 million pounds worth of funding.
and:
There appears to be separation from what the group are saying and what you are doing. It is my view that your leadership style is one that is not conducive to democratic decision making.
In a sense this is faintly reminiscent of Geoffrey Howe’s famous assassination of Margaret Thatcher’s Premiership, but anyone who thinks this automatically spells the end for Alec Robertson’s leadership of Cornwall Council should think twice before laying any bets. We have, after all, been here before. It was only last year that his own membership tried to topple him – he survived by the skin of his teeth and even claimed it represented an endorsement of his style. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the bunker mentality only becomes stronger as a result of this.
Nevertheless, this has not been a great week for the Leader. He came a poor second in his needless spat with the Council’s Chairman and was condemned by Members from all sides for some unwarranted personal attacks on his opponents during the budget debate. The unwelcome resignation of a high-profile member has capped off an embarrassing few days for him. Is he likely to pay any attention and learn from the experience? No one should hold their breath.
Another Budget Day 22 February, 2012
Posted by Jeremy Rowe in News.Tags: Conservatives, Cornwall Council, Finances, Independents, Lib Dems, Local Services, Openness and Transparency
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Yesterday was Cornwall Council’s supposedly annual Budget Meeting (although we seem to have two of these a year these days).
The Tory Leader of the Council seemed a bit edgy from the start and although he tried to put forward a positive message he seemed to cut a more isolated figure as the day rumbled on. One thing he was able to do was accept the Lib Dem proposal for a Council Tax freeze which is paid for by a one-off grant from central government.
What he couldn’t do was give the Council any meaningful detail on where the Tory-led authority will wield the axe in search of £40m worth of cuts previously voted through. Indeed, at one point we had the bizarre spectacle of him trying to claim there would be no cuts, only “reductions” in service.
The fear is that, in spite of a supposed rabbit being pulled out of the hat a month or two back, areas like the rural bus network will once again come under threat due to the administration’s ill thought out plans. We have already seen this area in crisis over the last twelve months because of the administration’s failure to keep its eye on the ball and this has also been the case with the car parks budget and the provision of public toilets. I asked for a guarantee that the Cabinet would pay closer attention this year but nothing was forthcoming.
In the end the budget was passed, primarily due to Tory and Independent votes, but questions will continue to be asked over the coming months about the devil in the lack of detail. There are no signs that there will be too many answers.
Olympic Tory confusion over the civic role of the Council 16 February, 2012
Posted by Jeremy Rowe in News.Tags: Conservatives, Cornwall Council
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A Tory Cabinet Member on Cornwall Council (who blogs even less frequently than I do) has stepped into the debate about the civic role of the Chairman of the Council, questioning why the authority is debating the Olympic Torch row at a time “when there are so many important issues to be addressed”.
It is, of course, the classic device deployed when those in charge would prefer a thorny issue to go away, but in a sense he is probably right: Cornwall Council shouldn’t have to be debating the civic function of the office of Chairman. The point he forgets is that this wouldn’t have arisen if the Chairman of the Council, whose impartiality is widely considered to be impeccable, had been left to represent Cornwall in the way she has always done since she was elected.
Instead, we have seen the Leader’s clumsy attempt to muscle in on a non-political photocall which has led to an undermining of the Chairman’s office. What is behind this I’m not entirely sure, although I’m not alone in suspecting the involvement of one of Cornwall’s Tory MPs who may or may not have instructed the Leader to “show them who wears the trousers” at their regular disaster committee meetings in the top floor bunker at County Hall.
Perhaps the question the Tory Cabinet Member should be asking is not why the Council has to waste time debating this, but rather why the Leader can’t find more important things to be doing than interfering in areas which are none of his business.
