Leader survives no confidence vote at scandal-hit council

The leader of Tameside Council  survived a no confidence motion against her during a fiery town hall meeting last night (March 4).

Furious pro-Palestine protesters outside Dukinfield Town Hall set the tone for an evening that saw council bosses put under serious pressure.

Coun Eleanor Wills has been leader for just four months, yet faced calls to resign from her opposition party members.

Conservative councillor Liam Billington called for the extraordinary council meeting, during which he claimed the Labour Party had undemocratically elected Coun Wills as leader.

In October, she had been installed by Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) who also appointed other cabinet members, which Coun Billington labelled ‘a disgrace’.

He also told councillors that three NEC appointments have now been suspended following the ‘Trigger Me Timbers’ WhatsApp furore, bringing yet more questions over the NEC’s decision making.

The scandal saw Gorton and Denton MP Andrew Gwynne dismissed as a government minister, and 12 Tameside and Stockport councillors suspended from the Labour party.

Three of the council’s cabinet members, councillors Claire Reid, Jack Naylor and George Newton, stepped down from their positions due to their involvement.

“I want to see an effective council that works for the residents of this borough,” Coun Billington told the chamber. “Now we’re being instructed by an external party body who are more interested in grabbing the pension fund we control.

“This is about what is right and wrong for our residents.”

His Tory colleagues also stood up to back the motion, saying they didn’t have an issue with Coun Wills or her abilities, but condemned the process in which she came to power. Labour councillors in the room backed their leader against this ‘half-baked motion’ – as Coun Andrew McLaren put it – by highlighting that she was officially appointed at a full council meeting.

The reds took it in turns to heap praise on the leader, who according to Coun Tafheen Sharif has ‘done more in four months than others have done in four years’. 

Former council leader Ged Cooney then said the Labour WhatsApp scandal was the work of Denton and Reddish councillors only, and lambasted the leaked messages that caused outrage in the public. 

The Droylsden representative went on to criticise the NEC involvement in Tameside Council affairs, agreeing that they should have no say in who should be their leader. 

Coun Vicent Ricci, who says he was kicked out of the WhatsApp group in 2022 but claimed to still have messages on his phone, was also critical of the NEC – who suspended him and Coun Cooney from the party in the wake of the scandal.

He said he would be exonerated because he posted no messages and didn’t partake.

Coun Wills, speaking ‘from the heart’, said: “I think there are lots of responses this evening in regards to some salacious things, shall we say. I’m here now talking to put myths to bed. 

“I knew nothing about the messages. I’m not a leader who knows anything about it.

“I’m the only person that put their name forward (to be leader) for this group. I will do it again and again and again. 

“I will continue to do that because it’s the right thing to do for my borough.”

The leader’s passionate speech of defiance against the motion garnered a cheer from the chamber and the public gallery. She won the vote of no confidence by a majority vote and will continue as the council boss.