No new leadership at Kirklees Council after annual meeting descends into chaos
Reform UK won the most seats on the authority at the local elections - but lack a majority
Kirklees Council remains without a majority and now without a leader after a catastrophic Annual Council Meeting.
Following the appointment of the new Mayor, Green Party Councillor Karen Allison, the Annual Council Meeting was held to decide the new Council Leader.
Both Group leaders, Councillor Andrew Cooper of the Green Party and Councillor Sarah Wood of Reform UK, nominated themselves for the next council leader role.
In their speeches, Coun Cooper warned that, despite being the largest party, 70 per cent of voters “didn’t want” Reform UK.
Coun Cooper said: “We have to go on the basis of the number of councillors voted on the archaic first-past-the-post system…The people have spoken, and they say it’s up to us to sort it out…A small group of councillors making all the decisions should not be entered into lightly.”
Meanwhile, Coun Wood argued that her party could see Kirklees with “new eyes”. Coun Wood said: “(We) must be collaborative where a common ground exists. And as members of the human race, common ground exists. There are 43 new Councillors in this chamber. Disagreement does not have to be dysfunction. We will focus on governance.”
However, after two votes where neither secured a majority, the council descended into chaos; Councillor Martyn Bolt for the Conservative Party called for a ‘Suspension of Orders’ – which would prevent any Councillors from abstaining from the vote – which was branded “undemocratic” by Coun Wood, after explaining that not all of the newly elected candidates “understood the constitution.”
Reform UK Councillor for Holme Valley South, Robert Butler, then stood to warn that he “genuinely didn’t understand” what was going on, which was reiterated by Coun Wood again.
Coun Wood said: “I understand just because we don’t know we understand it, we are at a disadvantage. We don’t necessarily know what we are voting for.”
A head-to-head vote did not take place, leaving Chief Executive of Kirklees Council, Steve Mawson, no choice but to adjourn the selection until Thursday, May 28.
Yet the confusion persisted when the Councillors were called to vote on whether voting within the council would be proportional. Traditionally, no councillors vote ‘No’. In the words of the Chief Executive, a No vote would imply that you would not want “proportionality of scrutiny committee seats”.
Despite this, 27 councillors voted ‘No’, including the newly elected Deputy Mayor, Lee Cliff.
When Councillor David Ridgeway, for the Liberal Democrats party, argued that Reform UK councillors should have “looked (at the agenda) before they came into the Council chamber”, Coun Wood re-stated for the fourth time that the Reform UK Party were “new” to council procedures.
Earlier, Councillor Martyn Bolt called for a debate regarding the Council Leader, but was refused.
Coun Wood said: “We don’t understand some of the procedures, and therefore we were offered the opportunity to vote against. We voted against it because we don’t understand what is going on.
“There are many people who have put forward many things… we have been partly confused because we don’t understand the rules.”
The vote was re-taken, where all members voted yes.
The meeting concluded, with Reform UK immediately leaving for a group meeting. The election of a council leader has been postponed until Thursday, May 28, at 5.30 pm. Following this period, if no leader is elected, Kirklees Council will be led under the supervision of the Chief Executive.