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Bid to 'oust' deputy mayor is thwarted
A CONTROVERSIAL move by Labour councillors in Eastwood to oust the town's deputy mayor from office has been thwarted at the 11th hour.
The ruling Labour members on the town council wanted to remove serving Liberal Democrat deputy mayor Cllr Josie Forrest.
But they were forced to abandon the plan at an extraordinary meeting after the Lib Dems presented legal advice which declared the move was against town council rules as she is midway through her term of office.
The Labour group had called the special meeting of the town council on Monday to discuss the move when the Lib Dems presented their legal findings and the move was scrapped.
Labour maintains the bid was not politically motivated and was not personal. But says since Labour took control of the council in October, it had decided to put someone else in place for a trial period to see if they could hold down the top civic job alongside things such as the demands of their family life.
But the Lib Dems are claiming Labour wanted one of its own members to take on the position because of the extra voting power it holds at council meetings – something Labour denies.
Cllr Forrest, 54, who has been a councillor since May 2007 and was also Mayor of Eastwood last year, said she has found the whole ordeal "humiliating and very personal".
She said: "I have found this all quite humiliating and unnecessary. The actions of the Labour group are of a personal nature to me and very hurtful but I won't play party politics.
"My main aim is to continue in my role as deputy mayor and do the best for the people of Eastwood. The outside support I've received has been heart-warming and much appreciated."
Labour members first suggested appointing a new deputy mayor during a full town council meeting earlier this month. But Lib Dem councillors argued it was unfair to replace Cllr Forrest, who also volunteers as treasurer of Age Concern in Eastwood, before her year in office was up. The extraordinary meeting was then called.
Labour group leader Cllr David Bagshaw said: "Because we now have a different majority party I wanted to put someone else in place as a six-month trial to see if they could cope with it alongside their family life and so on.
"We called the meeting but after looking into it, it became apparent that we couldn't go ahead with it so we took the item off the agenda.
"It was nothing personal against her. I had never any intention of trying to 'oust' her as such."
The Labour group took control of the town council after a family of councillors defected from the ruling Lib Dems.
Charles Robb and his wife Gwen, joined Labour while their daughter, Rayner, became an independent.
The move outaged residents at the time, who said councillors voted in by the electorate should not be allowed to switch parties.
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Weather for Eastwood
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
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Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 20 C
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