New Lancaster City Council leader elected

Green councillor Caroline Jackson has been elected as leader of Lancaster City Council.

This will be Councillor Jackson's second spell as leader having served in the role from 2021-23.

She replaces Councillor Phillip Black of Labour who resigned earlier this month.

Councillor Jackson, who represents Bulk ward in Lancaster, was voted in at Morecambe Town Hall on Monday evening after being nominated by her colleague Councillor Gina Dowding.

In a vote of councillors, 31 voted in favour, as all Greens and Liberal Democrats, and independent councillor Phil Bradley, voted for Councillor Jackson to become leader.

All Labour councillors in attendance voted against, as did independent councillor Roger Cleet, totalling 20 votes against.

The Conservatives and Morecambe Bay Independents in attendance abstained, totalling five abstentions.

So Councillor Jackson was elected by a 31-20 (5) vote.

Councillor Peter Jackson of the Lib Dems has been named deputy leader. 

Four members of the previous council cabinet, which was made up of Labour, Greens and Lib Dems, will continue with similar responsibilities - Councillor Caroline Jackson (housing), Councillor Peter Jackson (communities and well-being) and Green councillors Tim Hamilton-Cox (finance and property) and Nick Wilkinson (regeneration).

Councillors Jackson, Hamilton-Cox and Wilkinson, as well as their colleague Paul Stubbins, had been removed from the cabinet by Councillor Black in one of his final acts as leader.

Councillor Black resigned on November 13, accusing the Greens of forcing him out, saying they had given him an ultimatum to resign or face a vote of no confidence.

He said the ultimatum came because the Greens are now the largest group on the council, with 23 seats to Labour's 21.

Councillor Caroline Jackson said the resignation had been "abrupt" and that "perfectly civil negotiations" had been going on between themselves and Labour.

Councillor Black had been expected to remain as leader until May, under a cross-party agreement after the 2023 local elections when Labour, then the largest group, the Greens and Liberal Democrats formed an alliance to run the council cabinet.

REACTION 

Councillor Caroline Jackson said after the vote: "I am grateful and honoured to be elected as leader of the council.

"I hope to announce the full Cabinet positions by the end of the week, with details about who will lead on the other portfolios.

“I am confident of assembling a good team of new and established members to carry forward the priorities already established in the Council Plan.

“I agree with the sentiments that Councillor Black expressed at the time of his resignation that much has been achieved by the cross-party administration since May 2023. I asked Labour members to reconsider their position but they declined. 

"There is no doubt that there will be difficult budget decisions to be made by February. Despite a new Labour Government, local authorities like ours who provide essential and highly valued services for our residents and businesses are still finding it necessary to make savings in order to balance the budget. "

Councillor Gina Dowding (pictured below), deputy leader of the Green group, said: "Residents in the district expect us to represent them and as far as possible, their political choices. We know that always means a cross party administration. For most of the last 20 years Greens and Labour have shared in the administration of the city council. 

"It is unfortunate that Councillor Black misrepresented the perfectly civil negotiations between the Labour and Green leaders and deputy leaders to revise the leadership roles in recent weeks and it is disappointing that Labour decided to withdraw from working with the Greens and the Lib Dems."

Councillor Phillip Black (below), speaking to Beyond Radio after the vote, said: "We had an agreement with the Green Party and the Lib Dems that we were going to have an adminstration together for a period of two years.

"But after a recent by-election victory where the Greens gained another seat, they decided they didn't want to hold to that agreement any longer, and they told us that if the Labour Party didn't release the leadership, if we didn't resign, they would bring a vote of no-confidence. So they ended our agreements and ended up triggering the events you've seen unfold this evening.

"(Voting against Caroline Jackson becoming leader) was a point of principle. The conduct that they've shown in stepping away from our partnership arrangements isn't exactly something that makes you want to step forward and then vote for that person to be the leader.

"It was to show that we don't support the way they've gone about taking the leadership, they could have waited until May and then we could have had a smooth transition of power from one party to another.

"In some ways it's disappointing that the Lib Dems have voted in favour of Caroline tonight as well. (The Greens) walked away from an agreement that the Lib Dems were part of, so I hoped that maybe they would take a bit of a stance on it.

"I just hope the Greens treat them a little better than they treated us.

"I don't think there will be unity going forward, to be quite honest. The way that things have worked out, an administration between the Lib Dems and the Green Party is only going to be 30 members. That's not a majority. That makes it really difficult functionally for them to pass any policy, to pass a budget successfully. They are in for some real challenges and some real choppy water. They pride themselves on consensus building, I think they're going to have to do an awful lot of that.

"Whilst we will be a supportive opposition, we will certainly stand up and advocate for our residents if we feel they are stepping away from that.

"It is a shame. We came from a period of unity and stability, and now we have been plunged into this situation where there isn't going to be that same level of harmony. It really is all up in the air for the next few months, I'd say."

Councillor Peter Jackson, the new deputy leader (below), also spoke to Beyond Radio. He said: "I'm looking forward to the opportunities it will give me to meet people and understand more about how council works and how we can work with other councils and other bodies in the district.

"I'm excited by it. The circumstances are not ideal. I regret the loss of Labour colleagues whose efforts were considerable and who I liked and respected. But we have to have a functioning administration and Liberal Democrats will step up and assist the Greens in delivering that. 

"The three-party cabinet was designed in the first place because the Labour and Green groups had been unable to reach an agreement to have a two party administration. My role between them was, to some extent, to mediate and try to keep the three-party alliance together. So I was very sorry that it failed.

"But I think the change in arithmetic on the council, the fact the Greens became the largest party meant that some kind of dispute about the leadership and the composition of cabinet was inevitable.

"I kind of regret those dramatic events (of Councillor Black's resignation) and I think (Labour) put Lancaster into the limelight in a way that I would rather it were not. I'd prefer that we were in the limelight for doing good things, co-operating and working well together.

"My understanding and expectation is that this new cabinet will be carrying forward the policies of the previous three-party administration. So whilst Labour may be in opposition, they would be opposing things that they were previously trying to achieve if they take that view. If they take a constructive line in opposition, I don't personally see any problem with that. I think all of us, the Greens and Liberal Democrats, would like to co-operate with the Labour group on council."

Councillor Andrew Gardiner, leader of the Conservative group on the council (below), spoke to Beyond Radio and said: "We abstained because we have to have permission from the party centrally to vote.

"But I also would have abstained anyway because I don't agree with the break in the agreement that was put together 18 months ago.

"I was disappointed (that Councillor Black resigned), not just for Councillor Black because we got on well. I am disappointed for the people of the district. They've been let down tonight, because the instability now that's been caused is the big issue.

"And also for the (council) officers, because now they (will be) coming to meetings expecting (us to) make a decision and half the council will go the other way. The complete instability of Lancaster City Council is really concerning for me.

"The main parties have to come to us more often and ask us for support. But if that doesn't happen, there could be disruption again. I will work with any party. I support the CEO (council chief executive Mark Davies) 100 per cent.

"But we also, maybe now, have a bit more power in our arms. We may be a small group, but everyone is going to need our five votes."

Beyond Radio also spoke to other independent councillors to ask why they voted as they did.

Councillor Martin Bottoms, Morecambe Bay Independent, said he abstained to "protect the harmony on Morecambe Town Council" where there are seven Labour councillors.

Councillor Roger Cleet, an independent, said he voted against Councillor Jackson because "there are no Green councillors in Morecambe, under Labour the town was well supported, now we are into the unknown".

Councillor Phil Bradley, an independent who resigned from the Labour party over the summer, said he voted for Councillor Jackson for a "personal reason", saying that nobody from the Labour group had spoken to him since his departure.

Read more: Heysham councillor who quit Labour says he felt like 'black sheep' after voting against tax rise - Beyond Radio

BREAKDOWN OF LANCASTER CITY COUNCIL

The council has 61 elected members, or councillors.

There are 23 Greens, 21 Labour, seven Lib Dems, five Conservatives, three Morecambe Bay Independents and two non-aligned independents.

Fifty six councillors were in attendance at Monday's vote. 

Read more: Lancaster City Council leader dramatically quits as Labour-Green alliance collapses - Beyond Radio