Cllr Adrian Jones then said he hoped people would support the position that the Conservatives almost sought to prolong. He thanked Cllr Lewis for the gracious way [he referred to Labour in his speech] and his past association with Pat Hackett. He asked if Ian Lewis was willing to revise that. Cllr Ian Lewis replied that he wasn’t that desperate.
The Mayor said [following advice from the Borough Solicitor Bill Norman] that it was safest to have a separate vote first to remove the leader and then one on who the new leader would be rather than the motion as a whole.
The first vote was to remove Cllr Jeff Green and Leader of Wirral Council. This vote was along party lines.
Labour councillors (for) 30
Conservative councillors (against) 26
Lib Dem councillors (abstain) 9
So the vote was carried by four votes and Cllr Jeff Green was removed as Leader of Wirral Council. The next motion was to choose Steve Foulkes as leader of Wirral Council. A card vote was requested. The voting was against along party lines.
Labour councillors (for) 30
Conservative councillors (against) 26
Lib Dem councillors (abstain) 9
So the vote to appoint Cllr Steve Foulkes as Leader of Wirral Council was carried by 4 votes. In total from the start of the meeting it took 98 minutes to get to this point!
The Mayor asked Cllr Steve Foulkes if he accepted the nomination to be Leader of Wirral Council. He did.
