Despite having won the election and taking control of Tamworth Borough Council. We are told that Councillor Carol Dean leader of the Labour controlling group, is hoping to rely on opposition Councillors for key committees. In a move that might show her questioning her own groups capabilities, or worse still, her distrust in them, Dean has decided to hand over the chairmanships of the committees Licensing and Corporate scrutiny to opposition members. If that doesn’t show a lack of faith in your own team, we aren’t sure what does.
Further to our last update on the new Mayor, deputy leader and Cabinet appointments, it also appears that a complete newbie, Nova Arkney has been immediately promoted to a cabinet position, despite having absolutely no clue about how a local authority works. The appointments also snub experienced Councillors that whilst relatively new, have been on the authority a considerable amount of time longer, such as Councillor Lee Wood, who is apparently going to have to settle for chair of planning instead. Capable Councillors Lee Clarke and Sarah Daniels have also been overlooked for newer shinier colleagues.
We are not sure how this has gone down within the Labour group as our new mole (who we forgive for now, having not quite got everything right previously) won’t say. We can’t fathom how the Labour group as a whole can support this. Having taken control of the Council, you would expect Labour to go in all guns blazing with a whole Labour team (of which they have more than enough of) to make the key decisions and recommendations. Having to rely on and ask the opposition to prop up your administration for the first year is not a good start for Labour. How Councillor Dean will run a Council when she is clearly incompetent will be fun to watch this year, whilst sadly devestating for the people of Tamworth (large amounts of you voted them in folks! You reap what you sow), the car crash Labour administration will undoubtedly be a gift that keeps on giving to this site.
You can watch tonight’s council meeting right here.
