Tories lose Torbay Council majority

Two Conservatives quit ruling group

Two of Torbay’s Conservative councilors have resigned from the ruling Tory group.

Katya Maddison (Shiphay) and Patrick Joyce (Wellswood) were elected as Conservatives in the local council polls in May, but have now decided to form a new group called Prosper Torbay.

They claim they will be better able to serve the interests of Torbay residents by being outside the Conservative group.

The change shifts the balance of power on Torbay Council significantly. Up until today there were 19 Conservative councillors, 15 Liberal Democrats and two Independents, giving the Tories an overall majority of two.

However, with 17 Conservatives, 15 Liberal Democrats, two Independents and two Prosper Torbay councillors, the overall majority is gone.

The two rebel councillors are also calling on the Tory administration to focus on supporting local High Streets and tackling the problems of homelessness and housing.

In a statement they said: “There’s a lot of good stuff going on in Torbay with devolution and big capital projects lining up, but if history has taught us anything it’s that the devil is in the detail, and we would encourage the administration to be focused on that too.

“We want to be free to challenge projects while they’re still being formulated so we can avoid the fiascos of the past.”

The two councillors say there are old issues which aren’t going to be solved by building projects.

Their statement goes on: “To get the best result from all this investment a response to anti-social behaviour must be baked into the programme.

“Our high street businesses are fragile. We’ve worked hard to understand some of their challenges and would like to see effective measures being taken by a council listening and adapting and supporting our communities.

“Particularly at this time of economic challenge we could be developing new thinking to help them respond to the pressures they are facing.”

Cllr Maddison says she believes better information flows and transparency are things the council could improve to the benefit of residents and businesses, while Cllr Joyce says he believes new ideas are needed if the issues of homelessness and housing are to be addressed.

“We will continue to strive for a council focused on improvement,” the statement goes on.

“What lies ahead of us is so exciting, but we must link investment with the other crucial changes that will make the difference, and that doesn’t happen unless there are people actively pushing for them.

“Our purpose is working for all residents of Torbay who are at the heart of everything we look to do and achieve, and we continue as ward councillors to serve our communities in very difficult and uncertain times.”