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But Labour retained the leader position after a three contender battle at the Town Hall
Nuneaton and Bedworth Council leader Chris Watkins was ousted during a historic meeting at the Town Hall. A vote of no confidence led to him losing his role as leader.
He was voted out, 19 to 18 last night, Wednesday, January 21).
Coun Watkins, who will remain a councillor and likely on the authority’s cabinet, became the first in the country to fall foul of the government’s proposal to allow some councils to delay elections.
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Coun Kris Wilson, the leader of the opposing Conservative group, called for the extraordinary meeting claiming Labour had denied residents the chance to have their say in local government reform plans.
He told the meeting he ‘pressed the nuclear button’ because Coun Watkins told the government planned local elections this May should be delayed.
Local Tories, Green Party and the Liberal Democrat councillor are adamant the elections should still go-ahead.
Coun Wilson said it was denying locals their democratic right, leaving him with no choice but to question whether Coun Watkins should lead the council.
The two Green party councillors, Michele Kondakor and Mike Wright as well as Liberal Democrat Rob Roze, were the ‘Kingmakers’ because the council is no overall control.
Labour has 18 members with 17 Conservatives, so the Green party members and Liberal Democrat vote was crucial in deciding if Coun Watkins should lose the leadership role he had held since 2024.
With one Tory absent, the vote of no confidence saw Coun Watkins out. The Two Green councillors and one Liberal Democrat voted for him to go.
Labour held onto leader position
That sparked another vote to decide who the new leader would be. Labour put forward Coun Steve Hey, while the Tories nominated Coun Wilson and the Green Party, Coun Kondakor.
It led to a selection process, with the first round seeing all contenders put up for votes. Coun Kondakor polled the fewest, so was eliminated.
This led to a two way contest between Couns Hey and Wilson. The two Green councillors backed Coun Hey while the Liberal Democrat voted against. But it was enough votes for the former deputy to become leader of the council with 20 votes to 17.
While he refused to go as far as to say he would tell the government they wanted the local elections to go-ahead, he did say he would write to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to say the council had the capability to host elections this May.
For the full story from the new leader, keep an eye on CoventryLive.
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