Debunking Tamworth has been out and about, and sometimes even just been in the right place this last week, watching ‘secret’ meetings happening between certain key Tory figures and the Independent Future Group. Only they’re not so secret when they’re in the Tamworth Tap or the Bankhouse. Ears and eyes are everywhere (sometimes of our own team) and some of them relay what they’ve heard and seen to Debunking.
What we know of course is that there’s an internal leadership contest to decide the next leader of the Tory group and potential leader of the council if no political naughtiness ensues on the night of the council meeting. So far, there have been multiple separate meetings between the Independent Future Group with Councillor Thomas Jay, and half of the Conservative group including interestingly, the old Council cabinet including ousted leaders Jeremy Oates and Robert Pritchard.
So is some kind of coalition on the cards? Are we looking for last desperate measures to stop Labour gaining power at the next election?
Also catching our ears is some kind of further falling out within the group dividing it even more further than it was. Rumours abound are that Councillor Richard Kingstone has been part of a plot to catch out leaky Tory group members, potentially related to the email he sent to them the other week. Since someone in the group has evidently been leaking lots of information to Kingstone, we sometimes wonder if he’s one of our many anonymous informants.
It should all become clear this week. We’ll be watching and listening.
