The Reform group have accused Salford Council’s Labour administration of ‘political horsetrading’, after several of their bids to take on senior positions at council committees were voted down at the town hall. But City Mayor and Labour leader Paul Dennett slammed the comments as ‘grossly misleading’.
Councillors met on Wednesday, May 27, for the first full council meeting since the local election, which saw the Reform group win 14 seats after previously having none in Salford. Now the group claim they’ve been ‘blocked’ from having any chairs or vice chairs on the council’s various advisory boards – which are groups responsible for making decisions on activities like town planning, health, and traffic regulation.
The new political group put a bid in for two Chair and four Vice Chair positions, but the remunerated positions went to long-standing Labour and Conservative councillors instead.
Salford’s Reform leader, 25-year-old Ivan Voronov, told the chamber: “This is an exercise in political horsetrading. The results are influenced by discussions that happen before this meeting.”
He added later: “Labour has gone out of its way to block us from having any chairs or vice chairs, even though we’re the largest opposition party. In most places, opposition parties do tend to have some chairs. They even voted for Conservative chairs, even though they only have six members while we have fourteen. It’s because Labour don’t see [the Tories] as a threat.”
The city’s Labour group still holds the overall majority at the council with 34 councillors despite major losses on May 7. With six positions contested, the council was asked to vote between two names for each individual position.
Labour councillors stated their decision was based on elected members’ level of experience. But Lib Dem councillor Jonathan Moore noted that with ‘no bios, no CVs, no hustings’, councillors were ‘limited’ in their ability to make informed decisions.
Responding to Reform’s comments, Coun Dennett said: “Inevitably, parties do talk to one another, I’m not denying that. But to suggest this was all done through ‘horsetrading’ is grossly misleading.
“We want competent people in roles of responsibility, because constitutionally and legally, these elected members are the people that take decisions and set policy. That is a huge responsibility. Without being party political, I want the best people going for these jobs, and I want the council to vote for those people. That’s not something I directly control, I’m just one vote among many.
“As a new person coming onto the council, there’s a lot of learning that needs to be done. Many of the councillors from Reform UK have never stood for a political party or held public office. The priority is how we can support them. Let them find their feet, and then we can start considering things like chairs and vice chairs.”
Overall, Reform will still have 31 seats on committees – just not in leading positions – reflecting their proportion of councillors at the townhall.
The meeting at the Salford Civic Centre in Swinton also saw a reshuffle of the executive team of the council. The new top portfolio briefs are:
- Paul Dennett – City Mayor & Lead for Housing & Anti-Poverty
- Tracy Kelly – Statutory Deputy City Mayor & Lead Member for Adult Social Care & Health
- Mike McCusker – Deputy City Mayor & Lead Member for Planning, Transport, Sustainable Development and Regeneration
- Jim Cammell – Lead Member for Children’s and Young People’s Services
- Barbara Bentham – Lead Member for Neighbourhoods, Environment and Community Safety
- Hannah Robinson-Smith – Lead Member for Culture, Heritage, Sports and Leisure
- Michele Barnes – Lead Member for Skills & Work and Workforce & Industrial Relations
- Phil Cusack – Lead Member for Corporate Services
