Political row breaks out over mayoral selection as MP accuses council leader of “new low”

WARRINGTON South MP Andy Carter has accused council leader Russ Bowden of a “new low” by making the selection of a future Mayor of the town political.

But Cllr. Bowden hit back saying the only political interference in this matter had come from the Warrington South MP after the Council’s mayoral selection committee, which met in March, reached a resolution on the mayoralty order through to 2024/25. He said it was done properly in line with the constitution and was not up for debate after the event.

But Mr Carter says that if usual protocols had been followed Tory leader Kath Buckley would have been put forward to be the town’s next deputy Mayor at the annual council meeting next month.

But at the recent mayoral selection meeting, attended by Lib Dem leader Bob Barr, Cllr Buckley, Cllr Bowden and his Deputy Cllr. Cathy Mitchell, Cllr Bowden used his casting vote to put forward Labour colleague Cllr Graham Friend – With Cllr. Buckley having to embarrassingly vote for herself, supported by Cllr Barr, with Cllr Bowden using his casting vote to select Cllr. Friend.

While a shocked and upset Cllr Buckley kept a dignified silence, Mr Carter has now hit out saying: “I’m genuinely appalled to see politics entering decisions about who should be the next Mayor in Warrington.

“Council Officers submitted a clear recommendation spelling out, based on the proportion of Councillors elected and rotation between different parties, that the Conservatives would be expected to nominate a candidate to become deputy mayor in 22/23 and would then become Mayor in 23/24. The Labour Council Leader decided he was going to ignore this long-standing protocol, simply because it doesn’t fit his political aims and would mean a Conservative holding the office ahead of local elections in May 2024. I’m sure Labour’s nomination is an honourable and decent Councillor but he will have been as shocked as other Councillors and Officers to see changes made to benefit one political party over another”.

“The Mayor carries out a very special role in the town, above politics and second only to HM the Queen, the protocol is in place to stop political parties fiddling with the system, it’s shameful that the Cllr Bowden thinks it’s appropriate to massage the system to benefit Labour, I’m afraid this really is a new low.”

Mr Carter went on to say he had been contacted by three Labour councillors who said they had been embarrassed by the selection process, saying it should not be political.

Cllr Barr, Leader of the Lib Dem group said: “The Liberal Democrat Group on the Borough Council seeks to achieve cross-party consensus whenever possible, while responsibly opposing, policies we do not agree with.

“This has been increasingly difficult under Cllr Russ Bowden’s leadership of the Council where what he says goes and is loyally supported by the Labour group. This has led to some errors of judgement that have not been open to proper scrutiny or challenge.

“The last bastion of depoliticised cross-party consensus has been the Mayoral Selection Committee which has never been contentious. The Mayorality is rotated between parties based on proportionality and taking turns. So, it came as a great surprise when Cllrs Bowden and Mitchell rejected the convention to vote in a Labour candidate for Deputy Mayor. However worthy their candidate was, it was clearly the Conservatives’ turn and they had a very appropriate candidate.

“Very unusually the vote on the selection of the Deputy Mayor was split and Cllr Bowden used his chairman’s casting vote to force through his favoured Labour candidate.

“There has been serious acrimony on the Council since the election of 11 Conservatives in the 2021 May elections. The behaviour, attacks on the Council, and unreasonable undeliverable policies from the Conservatives have caused a great deal of ill-feeling. However, politicising and fixing the selection of a Deputy Mayor was not the right way to deal with it.

“This was yet another serious error of judgment by Cllr Russ Bowden.”

But Cllr Bowden responded: “The only political interference in this matter is coming from the Warrington South MP. The Council’s mayoral selection committee met in March and reached a resolution on the mayoralty order through to 2024/25. That was done properly in line with the constitution and is not up for debate after the event.

“The Labour Group has two-thirds of the seats and quite reasonably expects to be able to nominate one of the mayors during this council term. That will be for the 2023/24 civic year, after which it was agreed that the Conservatives will take a turn.

“The truth is that the Conservatives have repeatedly declined the mayoralty over recent years, including 2015/16. It can’t now be used for their convenience as a ‘soft landing’ for their group leader when they are replaced in May.

“Perhaps the most striking aspect of this whole episode is that the Conservative group leader thought it was acceptable to second and vote for a motion for them to become mayor. Given the £15k annual allowance, this is a clear conflicting pecuniary interest. That fact could have stayed private to the meeting but for this ill-judged and factually incorrect statement.

“Mayoral selection is a political process undertaken for an impartial non-political role as Warrington’s first citizen. The process has worked well and has seen many opposition members being mayor in recent years. It is disappointing that weeks later, Warrington Conservatives can’t accept the conclusion of that democratic process. In doing so, they continue to disrespect the mayoralty, this council and our wonderful town.”

Professor Steven Broomhead MBE, Chief Executive, Warrington Borough Council said: “The mayoral selection process is one undertaken by elected members who make the ultimate decision for who is to be selected as Mayor/Deputy Mayor for each cycle.

“The selection process and composition of the mayoral selection committee is in line with the council’s constitution and its membership was decided at the Annual Council meeting in 2021.”

It is not the first time the position of Mayor has caused a political storm.

Bank in the early 1980s, when the Conservatives controlled the town hall with a small majority, the Tory Mayor of the time, the late Cllr Percy Mounfield, attended every committee meeting to vote on decisions. As a result, when Labour came to power, they refused to share the Mayoralty with opposition parties for many years.