Cllr Pat Hackett elected Leader of Wirral Council with 31 votes to Cllr Ian Lewis’ 25
UPDATED by JB 19.5.19 to include extra video clip.
There were two candidates for Leader of Wirral Council yesterday evening (14th May 2019). Both made a five minute speech before the vote.
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Annual Meeting (Wirral Council) (Part 2) 14th May 2019 Part 1 of 2 – Leader of the Council
Cllr Pat Hackett (Leader of the Labour councillors) spoke first (you can watch his speech above). He said that as no party had a majority this would if councillors allowed it create a “vacuum of leadership”. Cllr Hackett said that he was “determined that we as elected Members will provide the leadership the Borough is crying out for”.
Continuing he said that parties could agree on “providing value for money services, creating wealth across the north, east, south and west of Wirral and playing our part in preventing the climate change crisis and showing dignity to the most vulnerable in our society”.
Cllr Hackett said, “My watchword will be transparency and integrity. If elected as Leader I’m not going to criticise what has gone on before.”.
Near the end of his speech he said, “change is coming and change which has the potential to have a lasting impact on our place and our people”
He finished by asking for faith and confidence to be restored in democratic politics on the Wirral.
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Annual Meeting (Wirral Council) (Part 2) 14th May 2019 Part 1 of 2 – Leader of the Council
Cllr Ian Lewis (Leader of the Conservative councillors) spoke second (you can watch his speech above).
He thanked the voters of Wirral and said, “regardless of party politics, if this Council keeps doing the things in the way that they’ve always been done we’ll keep getting the results that we’ve always got.”
Cllr Lewis said that if elected as Leader he would lead an all-party Cabinet, but that he would scrap the Cabinet system as soon as he could and switch to the Committee system with all decisions made in public.
In relation to the public he said, “too often people are having decisions made about them but without them”.
He said he would co-opt members of the public onto the Council’s scrutiny committees.
If elected Leader he would decide to build council houses on Council owned brownfield sites. He would also amend the objectives of the Wirral Growth Company to include a social obligation.
On greenbelt issues, he would appoint an advisory group on the Borough’s greenbelt.
If elected as Leader within sixty days he would end the agreement for the Hoylake Golf Resort, stop recruiting directors on excessive salaries (which includes management consultants), scrap the Wirral View, scrap car parking charges in country parks, remove Brackenwood Golf Course from the green spaces review and submit himself for reelection as Leader in twelve months time.
There was then a vote on who would be Leader of Wirral Council.
The Mayor of Wirral Cllr Tony Smith didn’t vote.
The Liberal Democrat councillors (6) said that they were not voting.
The Green Party councillors (3) said that they were not voting.
The Independent Group of councillors (3) voted for Cllr Ian Lewis as Leader.
The Conservative councillors (22) voted for Cllr Ian Lewis as Leader.
The Labour councillors (31) apart from Cllr Tony Smith voted for Cllr Pat Hackett as Leader.
Cllr Pat Hackett was elected Leader with 31 votes, Cllr Ian Lewis had 25 votes and 10 councillors didn’t vote.
Cllr Pat Hackett announced his all Labour Cabinet would be as follows:
Leader of Council and Strategic Economic Growth – Cllr Pat Hackett
Finance and Resources – Cllr Janette Williamson
Children, Families and Education – Cllr Tom Usher
Adult Care, Health and Wellbeing – Cllr Christine Jones
Housing and Planning – Cllr Stuart Whittingham
Community Services – Cllr Julie McManus
Environment and Climate Change – Cllr Liz Grey
Local Plan and Deputy Leader of the Council – Cllr Anita Leech
Culture and Tourism – Cllr Christine Spriggs
Regeneration and Growth – Cllr Tony Jones
The rest of the public meeting after the adjournment can be watched below.
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Annual Meeting (Part 2) (Wirral Council) 14th May 2019 Part 2 of 2
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Cllr Lewis would have got my vote!