Green Party Group leader Jonathan Chilvers says "Warwickshire could do better" and have a leader who doesn't treat people as political pawns
The Reform leader of Warwickshire County Council has narrowly survived a vote of no confidence today.
The Green Party tabled the motion against Reform councillor George Finch, accusing him of bringing the council into disrepute and misusing his position as leader.
The motion to oust Finch lost by a single vote, with 27 councillors voting against the motion and 26 voting in favour. There were two abstensions.
After just eight months in the role, Finch has faced mounting criticism from opposition councillors over how he runs Warwickshire County Council.
During the debate, several councillors referenced Finch’s remarks about his “boots on necks” style of leadership.
Speaking to Matt Forde’s Political Party podcast recently, 19-year-old Finch complained about Warwickshire County Council being an “officer-led” council, and said he would adopt a “boots on necks-type policies to squeeze staff until they eventually pop”.
Last August, Finch accused Warwickshire police of “covering up” the rape of a 12-year-old girl by not disclosing the immigration status of the suspects.
By commenting on a live court case, Finch risked committing contempt of court and derailing the case.
The Reform council leader also started a row with the chief executive of Warwickshire County Council, Monica Fogarty, about removing the Pride flag from the council headquarters.
When Fogarty refused, Finch overruled her.
Green Party group leader Jonathan Chilvers told Left Foot Forward that though Finch kept his position he thinks “it was really important that we brought this [motion] forward”, adding that “Councillor Finch’s behaviour and actions just aren’t acceptable”.
Councillor Chilvers referred to the “boots on necks” comment and criticised the way he has been “attacking council officers and the police”.
“Obviously we think Warwickshire could do better and have a leader who actually leads in a way that listens to people and doesn’t treat them as political pawns,” he added.
Reform councillors said that the motion was against “the will of the people” who voted for Reform in Warwickshire.
However, with 19 out of 57 seats, Reform runs Warwickshire County Council as the largest party but does not have a majority.
Chilvers said that he thinks “This is Reform trying to mislead people and claim that it’s anti-democratic, but we believe that our British democratic system is really important and we need to uphold that.”
Reform also claimed that the motion had been lodged not just against Finch but the whole party because the party is “different” to the status quo.
Responding to this, Chilvers said: “They’ve shouted and tried to throw things up in the air, but they have not actually brought forward change because change is difficult and it takes work and dedication. Whereas unfortunately, as we’ve seen, Councillor Finch has been more interested in using his platform to attack other people, which has the opposite effect.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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