Veteran politician’s anger over exclusion
Arun District Council Courtwick and Toddington ward councillor Mike Northeast called the exclusion ‘undemocratic’.
His two Labour colleagues lost their seats in the May election, leaving him the only party member on the council.
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Hide AdArun argue he is not entitled to any committee seats as he is not part of a political group.
He said: “I do find it a bit churlish as I have been a councillor for 24 years and I have had a lot of training and sat on most committees. It’s undemocratic and not right for the electorate that supported me. I feel pretty angry about it.”
An advice sheet from the Local Government Association, obtained by Mr Northeast, suggests ‘that in the true spirit of the Local Government and Housing Act, that morally or democratically, non-grouped councillors are entitled to fair representation’.
But Arun chief executive Nigel Lynn believes the correct interpretation is that parties must have two or more councillors to be allocated seats.
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Hide AdHe said: “Our interpretation of the legislation is that a political group ceases to be constituted under the law when its membership is less than two, as is the case for councillor Northeast who has not at this stage aligned himself with any other political group.
“It is for this reason that councillor Northeast was not allocated any seats on any of the council’s committees.”