Wednesday 24th May, 2023
The new Colchester City Council Cabinet was agreed very late in the day on Tuesday.
We say ‘agreed’ – there was nothing to agree on as the Labour Group still couldn’t get permission from their National Executive Committee to go into coalition with the LibDems way past the 5pm deadline.
And so the LibDems agreed amongst themselves to put forward an administration for the new Civic year which starts this morning.
Cllr Dave King will continue to lead the eight strong LibDem Cabinet. Cllr Mark Cory holds the Resources portfolio.
He is joined by his two fellow Wivenhoe Councillors, with Cllr Michelle Burrows taking on Leisure, Culture and Heritage, and Cllr Andrea Luxford-Vaughan being responsible for Planning.
There’s experienced hands in Cllr Martin Goss continuing with Neighbourhoods and Waste, plus a return to Cabinet for ex-Leader Cllr Paul Smith. He will look after the Housing brief.
New to Cabinet is Cllr Alison Jay in the Economy, Transformation and Performances role, along with Cllr Natalie Sommers who is now in charge of Communities.
It’s refreshing to see a 50/50 male female split sitting around the top table.
The formalities of the proposed new Cabinet taking on their roles will take place after Mayor Making in the Old Library this morning.
The Tory Group might still attempt to block the LibDems from taking up power.
It use to be something of annual political joke with a half-hearted approach from the Tories to oppose any coalition, and thrust forward their candidate as Leader instead.
This year they have a moral and mathematical claim to running the Council.
With Labour failing to reach agreement with the LibDems, the 19 strong Conservative Group has the moral hand over the 15 LibDem Councillors and the 14 Labour Councillors (boosted by a Green defector).
If there’s anything the Labour Group dislike more than going into coalition with the LibDems then it’s allowing the Tory Bogeyman back into the Town Hall.
Labour Councillors will be whipped to back the LibDem administration and block any Tory attempt to form an administration.
The state of Colchester politics…
Labour has had three weeks to sort this mess out since the last set of local elections. The refusal to cut a deal came from those above the pay grade of the local group.
The Labour National Executive Committee blocked attempts for the local group to share power with the LibDems. Coalition rings all sorts of alarm bells for Kier Starmer right now.
Labour went into the local elections confident of being the senior partner in a new administration. They failed to gain any new seats, leading to the stalemate.
This is a huge blow for Labour PPC Pam Cox. The plan was for Labour to lead the Council for a year and make all the right positive headlines. This would be the springboard for her general election campaign to topple Tory Will Quince.
The machine politics of Kier Starmer now sees Cllr Cox also frozen out of Cabinet.
You would have expected better from the politically experienced Labour Group Leader, Cllr Julie Young – although to be fair she has only held the role for a few weeks after Labour ditched another Leader locally.
The LibDems have been ready to go ahead with any deal for weeks now. You can’t blame them for saying sod this for a game of soldiers on the eve of Mayor Making.
The mechanics of local government will be tense for the next year. The LibDems will need to play nicely with Labour to get policy through.
It helps that Leader Cllr King has spent his entire career playing nicely as part of his Civil Service background. It has been his job to build coalitions.
Oh the irony of Mr Nice failing to build a coalition over the past few weeks, albeit through no fault of his own.
With no Cabinet positions, Labour is expected to pick up the handouts from the LibDems. They will pass down Committee Chairs to keep the Comrades on side.
The key event to watch out for will be the passing of the LibDem budget in February – assuming the minority administration lasts that long.
It leaves Labour in a delicate position ahead of the general election. They are propping up a LibDem administration informally. The Tories will rip them to shreds; in return Labour have no absolute power and the benefits this brings.
For once we’re happy that Colchester continues with the election by thirds model. The minority LibDem administration wouldn’t be good long term for the city over a four year stretch.
Mayor Making should be fun…
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