Last night the Conservative administration of Thanet District Council,led by Councillor Bob Bayford, was replaced by Labour when Councillor John Worrow, formerly elected as a Conservative for Birchington South, voted for Labour Leader Clive Hart.
Just two weeks ago and without any prior warning, Councillor Worrow resigned the Conservative whip. In last night’s leadership vote, he voted for Labour’s Clive Hart thereby ushering in a Labour administration despite 62% of voters in his Birchington South ward having voted Conservative in the May election.
Alasdair Bruce, the remaining Conservative Councillor for Birchington South commented: “I am appalled that the vast majority of voters in Birchington South have been disenfranchised by the actions of Councillor Worrow. He has betrayed the 1171 residents who voted for him as a Conservative candidate and he has sabotaged the democratic process in my ward and in Thanet.
“This is not the first time he has changed sides shortly after an election and I call upon Mr. Worrow, who claims his personal vote is unassailable, to submit to an immediate by-election. The voters of Birchington South can then decide whether to endorse his unilateral decision to vote for a Labour administration against the express wishes of his constituents”.
Not only did the Conservative Party win 62% of votes in this ward, it was the largest party in Thanet as a whole in the recent elections with 47% of the popular vote.
Independent Councillor Jack Cohen also voted for Clive Hart, despite Labour coming last in Birchington South with only 18% of the votes cast in May.
Can I suggest that at eleven o'clock tomorrow morning that everyone stops what they are doing in Thanet and engage in one minute of laughter
ReplyDeleteJohn Worrow resigned 'without any prior warning'.
ReplyDeleteWell to be fair to him this has been coming for a while. All you have to do is look at the recent letter dispute between him and the former Tory deputy leader of the Council Roger Latchford to know that all was not well. It would seem the local Conservatives are being disingenuous about this because I think nearly everyone at TDC has known that all was not well in NTCA for the past couple of months!