Suffolk Conservative councillors told how to vote over whether to support elections this year
Conservative councillors on Suffolk County Council were told how to vote ahead of a row over whether to support elections going ahead this year.
Cllr Henry Lloyd admitted to Stradbroke parish councillors on Monday evening he could have gone against the Conservative Party’s whip but decided to be a team player instead.
It followed a clash between county councillors earlier that day over how to respond to the Government’s call for feedback ahead of its decision on whether to cancel Suffolk’s upcoming local elections in May.
The call for feedback was due to concerns from councils about a lack of resources essential to delivering major reforms to local government.
However, Monday’s debate focused on whether the council should make its stance clear on the elections going ahead as planned.
An amendment from opposition councillors proposed clear support, but was turned down with 17 votes for, 39 against and four abstentions.
All Conservative councillors present voted down the amendment, but none outside the administration’s cabinet stood up to speak during the meeting.
Cllr Henry Lloyd told the parish council he had voted down the amendment despite supporting its premise because the Conservative whip was not to give an opinion on the elections beforehand.
“My opinion is the election should go ahead, my view is also that I see politics as a team game.
“Our group decided that the council shouldn’t have an opinion on whether they the elections should or shouldn’t go ahead.
“That was my decision at that point, whether I wanted to break from the group and break the whip and throw a tantrum in public about something that actually doesn’t affect whether we have elections or not, or do I be a team player.”
The whip is a political party’s way of enforcing discipline, and breaking is often associated with punishments such as suspensions.
His comments drew heavy criticism from opposition councillors, who accused Cllr Lloyd, as well as other Conservative members, of failing to represent their residents.
Cllr Andrew Stringer, the leader of the main opposition group — made up of Green, Lib Dem and Independent councillors — called the situation deeply worrying.
He said: “If it becomes a straight shove between those I represent and some awkward views from my party, my community always wins — the first duty is to represent those who elect you.
“We are being told that we have a free and open debate when actually, what we are witnessing is theatre.
“The whole day felt Orwellian — 1984 was fiction, not a handbook.”
Cllr Philip Faircloth-Mutton, who until recently had been a Conservative cabinet member before defecting to Reform in September, echoed the same concerns.
He said the Conservative leadership would often put pressure on backbench councillors to vote in a certain way during private meetings and even limit who could speak during meetings.
“There were many times when you’d go around the room, and it’d be on the basis of this person would speak and nobody else speaks on this matter, we need to get a Conservative Group line on this,” he said.
“It’s deeply concerning for democracy and local residents that they’ve got Conservative representatives who are being bullied and pressured into not even speaking in the chamber.
“There’s such a high degree of control in that Group.”
During the parish council meeting, Cllr Lloyd said councillors were encouraged to speak but did not confirm this when later asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Both him and a Cllr Matthew Hicks, the council’s Conservative leader, said they would not comment on internal group meetings and refused to provide any further details.
Cllr Patti Mulcahy, whose defection to Reform was announced yesterday, shared similar criticisms and experiences.
She said: “Sometimes it was requested that only certain people speak, especially in response to motions put forward by the opposition.
“I think it was telling at the meeting that only the cabinet members spoke, and not a single backbencher.”
It was not just councillors under the banner of political parties in the opposition who criticised the administration, however.
Cllr David Nettleton, an Independent, said the meeting had been a ‘bizarre spectacle’.
“Those who protest at this censorship are threatened with suspension if they persist in challenging the executive,” he said.
“Gradually, meetings become rallies in support of the ruling elite. Representation of the people fades into the background as democratic debate is stifled.”