Tag: Councillor

Wirral Council – Wirral Council 23rd May 2011 – Part 9 – speeches (Cllr Dave Mitchell & Cllr Chris Blakeley) on leader motion/amendment

Cllr Dave Mitchell (Deputy Leader, Lib Dem Group) said he had stood up against his own group regarding the library fiasco. No fingers had been burnt but soon he hoped it would be put to bed. The last administration had brought benefits to the people of Wirral. However we needed to look into the reality … Continue reading “Wirral Council – Wirral Council 23rd May 2011 – Part 9 – speeches (Cllr Dave Mitchell & Cllr Chris Blakeley) on leader motion/amendment”

Cllr Dave Mitchell (Deputy Leader, Lib Dem Group) said he had stood up against his own group regarding the library fiasco. No fingers had been burnt but soon he hoped it would be put to bed. The last administration had brought benefits to the people of Wirral. However we needed to look into the reality of the election and where [the Lib Dems] sit. He agree with Cllr Harney that they were now the smallest group. He said it was a cheap shot of the Conservatives as when they had been in opposition as the largest Group there had been all party support for a minority administration but they had turned it down.

Dave said they needed to move forward and the electorate had spoken. A tsunami had hit the Liberal Democrats, who were affected badly and had lost councillors as had the Conservatives. The Labour Party had fought on national issues not local issues. The Lib Dems would be making sure they were doing the right thing.

Cllr Chris Blakeley said it was an honour to be the last speaker. He said he won’t repeat what people have said. He thanked Cllr Green and the support from the Liberal Democrats. He said they had moved things forward in change local government as well as removing more items from exemption. They hadn’t waived as many call-ins. He said he was confused by the Lib Dems who had stated they were proud of their achievements over the last twelve months, but said there was a lot more to be achieved. He considered a Labour administration as a backward step.

Reminding people of the Strategic Change Programme, the Care Quality Commission report, swimming pools he pointed out that 60% of people hadn’t voted. If this was added to the people who had voted it was a mandate. He wanted to let people know about the FoulkesWorld Twitter account and said if this motion was agreed Wirral would go into Foulkes’ world.

Wirral Council – Wirral Council 23rd May 2011 – Part 8 – speech (Cllr Stuart Kelly) on leader motion/amendment

Cllr Stuart Kelly said he had heard what the Conservatives were saying. However it was frankly not enough to address and debate, when this should’ve been done in the closing weeks of the local election campaign. The points that had been made should’ve been put to the people. However the people had spoken. He thanked Cllr Ian Lewis for not mentioning him. Cllr Dave Mitchell also thanked him too. Cllr Kelly said that people vote for a raft of reasons. He said it was said many people voted for reasons that were not linked to success or otherwise but that was the way democracy was. The voters however knew best.

However, there were two critical things, the number of votes and the number of seats commanded. If they [Labour] had slightly more seats then they would have the critical seats needed for the formula. On both counts the Labour Party was the party with the most votes and seats. Wirral Council had invited the public to tell us and they had said No to AV and that they prefer FPTP. He said they must respect this. He referred to the Localism Bill and pointed out the opportunity to reconsider local government structure. He said a “strong leader [model]” was not for us and doesn’t work with a balanced Council. There was the option to reform the committee system to involve more councillors in the issues that had all-party support. He said he had not been in the Cabinet very long, but recognised its achievements and the way forward.