Council fails to choose leader for third time

Oldham councillors met for half an hour, agreed one thing, and then decided to go home again. Some elected members were seen after watching England play the Democratic Republic of the Congo after another meeting failed to break a deadlock on who should run the authority.

With no one elected as Oldham Council’s leader on July 1, a long stalemate drags on. There had been progress in selecting a ceremonial mayor as well as appointments to some key committees.

Further progress was made on July 1 with some appointments made to be council representatives at various external organisations. More agreement was found in a divided council chamber but this was to push back again deciding who will be taking charge to July 15.

Despite a number of options on the table, leading councillors are now warning the local authority is at risk of expensive commissioners being brought in. These are public officials who take over the functions of the council and are appointed by the UK government.

The recent local elections on May 5 left no party with a majority or even a third of seats in the council chamber. Before the July 1 meeting, bids to lead had been put forward by Labour, Reform, and an alliance of different parties.

The Local Government Association is supporting every political group to see if there is a way forward while company Compassion in Politics has reached out to offer help. The public have been reassured officers are still working to make sure key services are being delivered in the meantime but the longer things drag on, the more likely council services could be impacted.

At the July 1 meeting, a series of proposals were put forward but all failed with no debate between elected members. Mayor Pam Byrne appealed to her colleagues in her prayer before the meeting began, adding: “We are not always all wrong and we are not always all right.”

When votes were lost on four nominations for Mayor, she said she needed a deputy mayor and called on councillors to come up with someone and ‘think very hard’ over the next two weeks. Five nominations were put forward for leader but these were all lost.

Following the meeting, Labour councillor Arooj Shah, who leads the borough’s largest group, said: “We have always been clear in our position that we would not stand in the way of a viable administration that would work in the interest of all residents across Oldham. As the largest party we put forward a proposal to try and break the stalemate, and we were the only group to outline what we would do as an administration.

“After several votes, we still do not have an administration. It is not in the interest of residents to continue down this path, but we are clear that no other option would represent people across the borough.

“Oldham needs stability and we are the only group that have the experience and ability to provide it.”

Coun Kamran Ghafoor, who leads the Oldham Group, along with Liberal Democrat Coun Mark Kenyon both got 20 votes to become leader, the highest in the chamber alongside Labour’s nomination of Coun Shah. Coun Ghafoor told the LDRS: “This evening’s council meeting is a bitter disappointment, and once again it is the people of Oldham who are paying the price for political games and self-interest.

“The largest alliance on the council, made up of councillors from different parties, backgrounds and communities across the borough, has again been denied the opportunity to provide the stable leadership that Oldham desperately needs. We have the numbers, we have the breadth of representation, and we have the mandate to bring people together and move this borough forward.”

He added: “The people of Oldham deserve better than endless political manoeuvring. They deserve a council that works together and gets on with the job of delivering for residents.

“If this deadlock continues, there is a real risk that commissioners could be brought in, costing Oldham taxpayers millions of pounds at a time when every penny should be spent on frontline services and supporting our communities.

“We remain ready to lead, ready to work across party lines, and ready to put Oldham first. We hope all parties reflect on tonight’s events and come back to the table before further damage is done to the borough.”

In a post, the Oldham branch of Reform UK thanked Conservatives and some independent councillors for supporting them as well as Coun Byrne for putting forward a nomination of Coun Mark Wilkinson for deputy mayor.

They said: “Quite simply, the opposition parties especially the Oldham Group and Lib Dems need to make up their minds. It is either Labour or Reform UK. Oldham Council is ungovernable.”

The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives were also approached for comment.