Thanet is set for greater cross-party working in the future, with all three political parties taking positions on the council in a unique move not seen before in the area.
At the elections on Thursday 5 May, no one party won enough seats to take overall control of the council, with the Conservatives winning 27, Labour taking 26 and the remaining three going to the Independents. This left the council with no overall control, the first time Thanet has been in this position in 20 years.
Last night’s (Thursday 19 May) Annual Council meeting saw elections and appointments of all the key council positions, with the Conservatives taking minority leadership of the council, with Cllr. Bob Bayford elected as the Leader of the Council by 27 votes to 26. Cllr. Martin Wise was then appointed as the Deputy Leader. The Leader of the Opposition is Labour’s Cllr. Clive Hart and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition is Cllr. Alan Poole.
Chairmanship of the Council is now held by Labour’s Cllr. Doug Clark, with party colleague Cllr. Kay Dark as the Vice-Chairman.
The council’s Independent Group now chairs three of the council’s main committees, with Cllr. Tom King chairing the council’s watchdog body, the Overview and Scrutiny Panel. In an unusual move, he will be joined by two Vice-Chairmen, one Labour, Cllr. David Green, and the other Conservative, Cllr. Zita Wiltshire. Cllr. Jack Cohen was named as the Chairman of the Planning Committee and Cllr. Bob Grove takes charge of the Licensing Board.
Leader of the Council, Cllr. Bob Bayford, said: “I see this as an exciting opportunity, both for the council and Thanet. The electorate didn’t give any one party a mandate in Thanet and that leaves the council very finely balanced. We recognise that all three political groups have to work with each other and I have every intention of doing that for the greater good of the community.”
That’s something echoed by the Leader of the Opposition, Cllr. Clive Hart. “The outcome of the elections and Thursday’s Annual Council undoubtedly means there will need to be more cross party working at TDC. However, it is important to remember this is not a coalition and we are still three separate parties with our own very distinct policies and we will obviously vote with this in mind, on each and every issue.”
Tom King is the Leader of the Independent Group: “We believe it’s important to stay Independent, as that’s why people voted for us. We would like to see the two main parties working more closely together in the future and we’ll do what we can to help achieve that.”
Formal appointments for 2011/12:
| Leader of the Council | Cllr. Bob Bayford | Conservative |
| Deputy Leader of the Council | Cllr. Martin Wise | Conservative |
| Leader of the Opposition | Cllr. Clive Hart | Labour |
| Deputy Leader of the Opposition | Cllr. Alan Poole | Labour |
| Overview and Scrutiny Panel Chairman | Cllr. Tom King | Independent |
| Overview and Scrutiny Vice-Chairmen | Cllr. David Green Cllr. Zita Wiltshire | Labour Conservative |
| Planning Committee Chairman | Cllr. Jack Cohen | Independent |
| Planning Committee Vice-Chairman | Cllr. Ken Gregory | Conservative |
| Licensing Board Chairman | Cllr. Bob Grove | Independent |
| Licensing Board Vice-Chairman | Cllr. John Edwards | Labour |
| Governance and Audit Committee Chairman | Cllr. Jason Savage | Conservative |
| Governance and Audit Committee Vice-Chairman | Cllr. Peter Campbell | Labour |
| Joint Transportation Board Chairman | Cllr. Harry Scobie | Labour |
Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet appointments:
| Portfolio | Cabinet Member (Conservative) | Shadow Cabinet Member (Labour) |
| Finance and Corporate Services (also includes communications and policy, procurement and audit) | Cllr. Bob Bayford | Cllr. Richard Nicholson |
| Regeneration and Economic Development (includes asset management, strategic planning and the | Cllr. Alasdair Bruce | Cllr. Clive Hart |
| Customer Services, Regulatory Services (includes IT services, revenues and benefits, planning enforcement and applications, licensing, land charges and general estate management) | Cllr. Simon Moores | Cllr. Michelle Fenner |
| Community Services (includes council housing, strategic housing, housing need and homelessness, housing renewal, private sector housing, community safety and environmental health) | Cllr. Chris Wells | Cllr. Iris Johnston |
| Environmental Services (includes waste collection, recycling, street cleaning, public toilets, parking, parks, allotments, cemeteries and crematorium, sports development, arts development, museums, foreshores, Thanet Coast Project, indoor and outdoor leisure, play services, tourism, events and Environmental Action Programme) | Cllr. Martin Wise | Cllr. Alan Poole |
Sounds hopeful but, having read the Militant Tendency rhetoric of one new member over on Red Thanet, one has to worry that hope may be shortlived.
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