Warwickshire Liberal Democrats will hold Reform UK and the Conservatives to account.
At today’s Annual General Meeting of Warwickshire County Council the 22 members of the Reform UK group took over control of the Council with the support of the nine members of Conservative group.
Both the Chair and the Leader of the Council will be from the Reform UK group. This is despite nominations for both posts made in the meeting by the 14 members of the Liberal Democrat group which has more members than the combined total of other opposition parties.
The Deputy Chair of the Council and the Chairs of all the Overview & Scrutiny Committees, for which extra allowances are paid, will be from the Conservative group.
The Reform UK group leader, who will be the new Leader of the Council, has never previously served on the County Council. Because of his absence from the AGM, there was no statement from him about the administration’s priorities for communities and residents across Warwickshire nor about who will be the Portfolio Holders for the key areas of responsibility.
In this month’s elections voters had ensured that the Conservatives lost 33 previously-held seats, including their former leader.
‘The decisions at the AGM result in a minority administration taking no account of the different values and principles that other political parties stand for,’ said Cllr Jerry Roodhouse (Rugby Eastlands), leader of the Liberal Democrat group.
‘Liberal Democrats will work to hold the new administration to account and bring forward our own proposals so that all communities and residents in Warwickshire have an equal opportunity to develop and to prosper in an environmentally sustainable and inclusive way.’
Liberal Democrats have raised their concerns that Warwickshire County Council does not have a Cabinet operating with Portfolio Holders leading the Council’s directorates and business areas.
and a record 14 overall in Warwickshire.
