This is Tamworths’ new Mayor, Councillor Gareth Coates. Or at least he will be on Tuesday 21st during the Annual General Meeting of Tamworth Borough Council. However, this ain’t the real news folks, that’s because there’s a new Deputy in town, and it might surprise you.
Yep that’s right, Councillor Chris Bain. Which means he is no longer the Labour group deputy leader. It also means he’s likely set his eyes on retirement, given the Mayorality is normally the path to end your political career (with some exceptions of course). When Bain becomes Mayor next May, that is likely the end of him being a Labour Councillor.
So that leads us on to who might be the new Deputy Leader. Well, our mole is being a bit coy on this one, but we believe it is likely to be Councillor Ben Clarke, one of the relatively new intake of Labour Councillors.
We wonder if this was a compromise deal for him and his colleague Councillor Lewis Smith to avoid a full on leadership coup by the pair to dethrone Councillor Carol Dean.
As for the rest of their leadership team, we expect a return of Councillor’s Marion Couchman and David Foster to the cabinet after 20 years. We also expect Councillors Lewis Smith and Lee Wood to join the high ranks. It seems Councillor Sarah Daniels has been overlooked this year, although we understand this is likely by choice.
So there we have it. We can only really test the veracity of our new mole on Tuesday when we get to see the full line up.
