The leader of the Independent group on Cheshire East Council said the Conservative group would be running the council with them if they had agreed to share the leadership, writes Belinda Ryan.
Cllr Craig Browne’s tweet (pictured) came after Conservative group leader Janet Clowes said she found it “extraordinary” the Independents had agreed to run the council with Labour again and give residents “four more years of the same”.
Cheshire East has been jointly run by a Labour/Independent administration for the past four years because neither the Conservatives nor Labour secured enough seats to take overall control.
The position was the same this time round, and again the Independent group opted to work with Labour – although the decision wasn’t announced until yesterday, more than a week after the local elections.
But today (Wednesday) Cllr Browne tweeted: “Had the Conservative Group been willing to share the role of Leader of the Council (2 years each as we proposed), they would now be looking forward to running the Council for the next four years; they weren’t, so they ended up with nothing.”
The tweet has since been deleted.
Cllr Browne told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The issue of leadership of the council was discussed with both group leaders but both groups made it clear that was not up for negotiation.”
Labour councillor Connor Naismith, part of the team which negotiated the agreement with the Independents, confirmed it does not include having an Independent as leader.
After May 4 elections, the Conservative party remains the largest group on the council – with 33 councillors, closely followed by Labour with 31 and the Independent group has 14.
Conservative group leader Janet Clowes attacked the record of the previous administration this week, saying: “Following significant Independent losses at the recent local elections at the hands of Labour, but where Labour failed to make the gains needed to take control of the council, the Conservative group bucked the national trend and remains the largest group within Cheshire East Council.
“It is therefore extraordinary that, despite public concerns regarding the Labour/Independents’ previous handling of the budget, of highways repairs, planning delays, proposed green waste tax and cuts to other important services, they have re-aligned to give Cheshire East residents four more years of the same.
“Whilst we are disappointed at being denied the opportunity to help rectify this administration’s past errors and innovate new solutions, we will continue to scrutinise and hold this fragile coalition to account at every opportunity as our democratic mandate demands.”
Independent group leader Craig Browne said: “Ultimately we received strong offers from both groups. However, on this occasion, we have decided that stable leadership is what the council most needs at this time.
“The agreement we have reached today is valid for the next four years, but will be reviewed at the end of each year to ensure that both sides are upholding their part of the deal.”
Oh for goodness sake about time we had adults in charge here, far too much time is spent on scoring home goals, about time we had people who can run a company in charge, not a room full of posturing air heads bumbling along, you are holding this county back, another four years of the same lack lustre, performance utterly shocking