Tories purged from Cabinet at behest of council leader

HBC council leader Kim Forward has made her mark by removing Tory representation on the Cabinet, in an unexpected move that has drawn criticism not just from the Tories but from Liberal Democrats and elsewhere. Nick Terdre reports.

The news has not been announced by the council but was broken by Cllr Rob Lee, leader of the Conservative group, who reported that, along with fellow Tory councillor Andy Patmore, he had been removed from the Hastings Borough Council Cabinet on the orders of council leader Kim Forward. The Cabinet, the council’s main executive forum, now consists solely of Labour councillors.

When asked for an explanation of this move, the council communications team merely issued a list of new Cabinet members and responsibilities following a reshuffle of Labour members, and said that Cllr Forward had no further comments.

The order came only hours before the meeting of the Cabinet, Cllr Lee said on Monday. The meeting, which was to be live-streamed, had to be aborted due to malfunctioning of the video system and will be rescheduled. But in the opening minutes Cllr Forward, who was chairing it, made no reference to the sudden change in the Cabinet’s make-up.

Cllr Lee said he was also unable to furnish a reason for Forward’s decision. “It is a great shame that the Leader of the Council has made this decision to deny a voice to Conservative voters all over the town,” he said.

No reason given

”No real reason has given for the move and it will stifle debate locally. This is proof that Cllr Forward is not interested in hearing alternative points of view.

“Previous Labour leaders have seen the importance of consulting with opposition parties instead of listening only to voices that agree with them. Over the last few years the Conservatives have been proved right on many issues locally, including the recently aborted plans to build solar panels which was very embarrassing to the Labour leadership.

“The fear of effective Conservative opposition has proved too much for Cllr Forward who does not dare to face challenging questions from outside the Labour Party.

“Over the last few years this Council have made a string of poor decisions from closing down the town centre toilets and failed solar schemes to huge borrowing to fund the unwise purchasing of commercial property. The Conservatives have been against these failed schemes and it seems that Labour no longer want to hear the dissenting voices of reason.”

Local Liberal Democrats also criticised the decision. “We see this as not just an issue for any individual political party but a wider question of representation of all those affected by Council decisions,” Susan Stoodley, an executive committee member of Hastings & Rye Lib Dems, told HOT.

“For local Lib Dems it is also a broader issue than just representation in the cabinet.

“This seems to be another example of the local Labour Party’s reluctance to have any form of open government in Hastings.”

Ignoring input

“There are several examples of projects where they have ignored input from other parties, including the question over whether to install solar panels in the Country Park, the former bathing pool site and building on the Bulverhythe recreation ground.

“We strongly believe that the actions of the borough council would be greatly improved by involving a broader range of interests in decision making that can impact on every resident of Hastings.

“We believe conditions in the borough would benefit broadly as a result of a more open, cooperative form of governance. We think it would be better if the Council operates through a committee rather than Cabinet system.”

Meanwhile Julia Hilton, secretary of the local Greens, told HOT: “We feel that the Cabinet should contain councillors with the necessary experience and knowledge to be effective in their own portfolio area. This may or may not include councillors from opposition parties.

The nearest to an explanation which HOT has seen came from Cllr Andy Batsford, himself a Cabinet member, who wrote on Facebook “I think it’s the right decision. They have been totally ineffective as cabinet members. They are paid a good additional sum of money but provided nothing of worth. Poor value for money for our town.”

In fact it was Cllr Patmore’s reminder of Natural England’s reservations about the damaging effects of solar arrays on wildlife that led then council leader Peter Chowney, when moving a proposal to approve expenditure on feasibility studies for the Country Park solar farm project, to add an amendment making the project conditional on a favourable assessment by NE. When this did not come, the project was scrapped.

Hypocritical

Meanwhile former Tory councillor Robert Cooke also took to Facebook to say: “Very hypocritical – when the Conservatives did this to Labour they likened the administration to Zimbabwe. I guess communist China would be the nearest comparison for Labour.”

Other Facebook posters criticised the move. One said, “Cabinet should be inclusive of all political persuasions,” and another, “What are Labour afraid of? Can’t take the criticism or scrutiny, what are they trying to hide??”

In fact constitutionally there is no requirement for political balance in the make-up of the Cabinet, as noted in the HBC constitution: “The Local Government Act 2000 provides that the political balance rules do not necessarily apply to a Cabinet or Committees of a Cabinet.”

There are single-party Cabinets elsewhere in East Sussex. The East Sussex County Council Cabinet consists of eight Tories, Eastbourne’s of seven Lib Dems and Wealden’s of five Tories. Mixed Cabinets can be found in Rother (Association of Independents five, Lib Dems three and Labour one) and Lewes (Green Party four, Lib Dems three, Labour one and one independent).

Cabinet reshuffle

The Cabinet now comprises eight members. In addition to removing the two Tory councillors, Cllr Forward has also replaced Cllr Sue Beaney as chair of the charity commission with Cllr Margi O’Callaghan. Cllr Paul Barnett has also been appointed to the Cabinet, with the Urban Environment and Community Safety portfolio.

Some portfolios have also been reallocated. The remaining members and their responsibilities are as follows: Cllr Forward (Strategy and Partnership Working), Cllr Colin Fitzgerald (deputy leader, Regeneration, Culture and Tourism), Cllr Peter Chowney (Financial Management and Estates), Cllr Judy Rogers (Equalities, Organisational Well-Being & Performance), Cllr Maya Evans (Natural Environment and Leisure) and Cllr Batsford (Housing and Homelessness).

 

This article was amended by Nick Terdre on 10 and 11 June 2020.

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