A fierce political row which culminated in a mass walkout at a Cheshire West council meeting where a vote on devolution was to take place continues to rumble on, with the council’s leadership being accused of an ‘attack on democracy’, with those who left accused of a ‘dereliction of duty’ and ‘pantomime act’.
Chaos ensued at a council meeting after opposition members walked out in protest at what they said was a vote on a devolution plan which should not have gone ahead. The move brought stinging criticism, with one councillor accusing those who walked out of putting ‘two fingers up’ to voters and the democratic process.
Devolution plans for Cheshire and Warrington
An extraordinary meeting of Cheshire West and Chester full council took place on Tuesday evening where members were due to discuss backing a devolution plan for Cheshire and Warrington.
Votes in Cheshire East and Warrington Borough councils are also set to take place soon and, if approved by all three councils, it will pave the way for the creation of a new devolved authority, similar to that in Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region.
Conservatives wanted to wait until after the council by-election
But unlike the other two councils, Cheshire West and Chester is currently in a pre-election period due to an impending by-election in the Ellesmere Port ward of Strawberry, with voters due to go to the polls and choose a replacement for Labour’s Cllr Gareth Gould, who has stepped down for health reasons. The current pre-election period, also known as purdah, means there is effectively a ban on conducting any business which could be seen to promote the views of one party or political group over another.
As well as by Cheshire West, the scheme must also be backed by Cheshire East and Warrington Borough councils, which are due to hold their own meetings next week.
Concerns were raised earlier in the week by the main opposition Conservative group, which said the meeting should be postponed until after the by-election.
Before last night’s meeting at Winsford’s Wyvern House got underway, the council’s top officer, chief executive Delyth Curtis, told the chamber the devolution issue was ‘time sensitive’.
She said:
The restrictions do not prevent business of the council continuing on issues which are time critical and essential business can still be determined through the normal council procedures, the item on today’s agenda has been assessed by myself and the monitoring officer as requiring a decision that cannot be delayed until after the by-election.
In protest the Conservatives and others voted with their feet
During the meeting the Conservatives, joined by others, voted with their feet.
Addressing the chamber, Cllr Adrian Waddelove, leader of the Conservative group, criticised the fact full council was only being asked to endorse a report on devolution, but that the decision to approve it would be taken only by the ruling Labour cabinet today (Wednesday, September 10).
He said:
Many of us in this chamber, myself included, support devolution. I support more funding for our area.
But tonight, council is asked to note the content of the joint committee report and endorse and recommend to cabinet the principle of the establishment of the Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority, not council ‘votes to establish’.
I suspect my Farndon ward residents and many in this chamber tonight will be surprised to know the only action being asked of us, elected councillors, is to endorse a report. It’s a bureaucratic waste of time. Tonight is not a meaningful vote.
Then in remarkable scenes, he led a mass walkout.
The meeting continued without the rebels
After those that chose to leave had left, the chair of the meeting, Cllr Robert Bisset, quickly restored order and declared there were enough councillors left to continue with a vote.
Labour councillor Sam Naylor hit out, saying:
I did not intend to speak tonight.
Some of them (members who walked out) I know very well, and I have respect for, but I feel they showed a complete dereliction of their democratic duty to their residents, particularly to those who voted for them.
Because they didn’t even bother to speak. It is akin to putting two fingers up to the democratic process and residents and to those who reside in Cheshire.
Summing up before the vote, council leader Louise Gittins (Labour) said:
Our constitution means that the cabinet can make a decision on this.
We wanted it to come to full council so that everybody had their opportunity to debate it. Wedidn’t have to do it. The cross party group has worked for 12 months on this.
We’ve had cross party member working groups, and my plea was to put politics to one side.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t help themselves but we will still go on. We will get our devolution for Cheshire and Warrington. If we don’t, we’ll go back to the bottom of the pile. We won’t get mandated to do it for another five years.
A unanimous vote was the result
On the night there were 63 councillors present, six absent and one vacancy.
The vote was unanimous among those remaining – made up of 32 Labour, two Green and one independent group. The decision meant the council’s ruling cabinet, which sat the next day, approved taking the devolution process forward.
Warrington and Cheshire East now need to make their decisions.
Council and Labour group leader Louise Gittins, said:
The council’s constitution allows for decisions to be made when members are absent or have left the council.
This is consistent with other councils, and is standard practice.
This was explained in advance of the meeting and reiterated by officers at the start of the meeting, but rather than listening to legal advice, Cllr MacGlashan, Cllr Shannon and Cllr Watson joined Reform and Conservative councillors in their pre-planned pantomime walkout.
By leaving the meeting, these councillors showed the exact opposite of solidarity with people in the Strawberry ward.
They could have spoken on behalf of any resident of Cheshire West as all councillors are elected to serve the borough. The walkout was a dereliction of duty, not a grand gesture.
Warrington will hold a full council meeting on September 15, with a decision then going to that council’s ruling cabinet for approval on September 22.
Cheshire East has a different constitution known as a ‘committee system’ where decisions are more de-centralised; it will hold a meeting of full council on September 17 where members will be asked to approve.
If all three councils approve, the devolution process will then begin in earnest.
Accusations flying in all directions
In the hours and days which followed the walkout, accusations have continued to fly from all sides.
Cllr Jimmy Shannon, who represents Whitby Groves as an independent but was on the Labour group before stepping down in June, said:
He added the collective action was a ‘demonstration of solidarity’ with the residents in Strawberry ward and a ‘recognition of their fundamental democratic right’ to representation.
Fellow independent Cllr MacGlashan, who also stepped down from the council’s ruling Labour group in June, added:
The Labour leadership reached a new low in forcing a meeting to take place when a by-election was underway and residents of Strawberry ward had no councillor to represent their views.
We joined other opposition members in leaving the chamber early to demonstrate our dissatisfaction at this attack on democracy.
In addition to non-aligned independents on Cheshire West, there is also a group of independents.
Cllr Gillian Edwards, who represents Weaver & Cuddington Ward and leads that group, was not impressed by the walkout.
Posting on Facebook soon after the meeting, she said:
I was absolutely appalled by this behaviour. It was not only deeply disrespectful to the democratic process but, in my view, nothing short of disgraceful.
To abandon the chamber in this way is to turn their backs on the very residents they were elected to serve.
I find it utterly disgusting that, when faced with a critical issue for our borough, some representatives decided to make a political statement rather than engage in debate. Communities deserve better. Residents deserve better.
A combination of two press releases by Local Democracy reporter Mark Smith.
