Walkout, anger and tears mar Torbay mayor-making meeting

Tory group's U-turn leaves Mayor-elect stunned

The bitter power struggle for control of Torbay Council boiled over into angry scenes at the annual mayor-making meeting.

Traditionally a ceremonial occasion with no hostile debate involved, it ended with tears, cries of ‘shame’, accusations and a mass walkout.

Afterwards councillors said future co-operation between Conservative and opposition members of the council was ‘in tatters’.

The row centred on the appointment of a new civic mayor for the bay. In February the council had been unanimous in nominating long-serving Liberal Democrat councillor Swithin Long (Barton with Watcombe) for the role. His nomination was even seconded by Conservative council leader David Thomas (Preston).

Cllr Long had invited friends and family to the mayor-making meeting and had already accepted invitations to charity events in the opening weeks of his mayoralty.

But two days before the meeting Cllr Thomas announced a sudden U-turn, saying the Tory group would not, after all, be supporting Cllr Long’s nomination.

He maintained that it was traditional for the council to appoint one year’s deputy mayor into the next year’s top job, having served a year’s ‘apprenticeship’, and that would mean Tory councillor Hannah Stevens (Furzeham with Summercombe) getting the job.

But he also conceded that the Tory group’s abrupt change of mind had come as a result of the balance of power on the council shifting.

The death of Prosper Torbay councillor Patrick Joyce, who jointly formed the group after leaving the Tory group, has led to a by-election which will take place in Wellswood next month. If the Conservatives win Wellswood back, it will mean there are 18 Tories and 18 opposition members of the council, giving the mayor the crucial casting vote when debates are split.

Some councillors have described the next mayor’s role as that of ‘kingmaker’, and both Conservatives and the opposition are keen to make the role theirs.

However, the fallout from the U-turn over the mayoral nomination was bitter. Cllr Long himself said: “I am genuinely shocked and disappointed that this is becoming a political event.”

And Katya Maddison (Shiphay), who is the other member of the Prosper Torbay group in the opposition, said it was ‘an example of bad faith’ and ‘casual reneging on a commitment’.

And she told her former Tory colleagues: “The Conservative party needs a clean-out, and I question whether you are fit for the job.”

Opposition leader Steve Darling (Lib Dem, Barton with Watcombe) said the position of mayor had been ‘dishonoured’ by the wrangle, and warned that squabbling could damage prospects for Torbay.

“This is creating a poisonous brew,” he said. “We should be coming together and championing Torbay.”

And Cllr Darren Cowell (Ind, Shiphay) went on: “This is a sad day. A coach and horses has been driven through an arrangement based on trust.

“The role of civic mayor is non-political, but today it has been weaponised.”

Voting went down strict party lines, with the motion to have Cllr Long as mayor defeated, along with one for Cllr Kelly Harvey (Lib Dem, St Marychurch) to be his deputy.

Cllr Thomas then succeeded with a motion to put off setting the political make-up of the council’s committees until after the Wellswood by-election on 6 June, instead of doing it on the same day as the mayor-making as normal.

Almost all of the opposition councillors had walked out of the chamber in disgust before the vote was completed.