No confidence vote in Arun council’s administration tabled

A motion tabled by Tory leader Shaun Gunner also called on council leader Dr James Walsh and his cabinet to resign, accusing them of ‘a lack of vision and inclusivity’.

His idea is to replace them with a cross-party ‘unity’ administration, of which he would be leader.

But Dr Walsh said he had no intention of standing down.

He accused the Tories of being hungry for power and ‘playing cynical political games’ at a time when the council had been concentrating on dealing with the fallout from the pandemic.

The public has been witness to an often combative atmosphere among councillors since the Tories lost control of the council in May 2019, after 45 years in charge.

Accusations about broken election promises have been hurled around – most notably the pledge to transfer ownership of Bognor Town Hall to the town council – and criticism of decisions such as budgeting £65,000 for a new webcasting system.

The loss of Emily Seex, who quit the Lib Dems to become independent, has not made things any easier for Dr Walsh, especially as her parting shot called on councillors to ‘put aside party politics and work together in the interest of our residents’.

The same point was raised by Mr Gunner, who said ‘many members’ of the administration had a ‘closed-minded attitude to working with other councillors’.

He added: “The Liberal Democrats came to power with lots of good intentions. But, we need good decisions as well.

“I would rather not table a vote of no confidence but this is sadly the only way I am able to force a debate on how this council and this district is governed.

“I am sad that it has come to this.

“What this district needs is leadership, which is why I am seeking to form a new unity administration involving councillors from across the chamber that can make the positive decisions for our area.

“I hope that the current administration will support a move for us all to come together for the good of residents and businesses of Arun rather than trying to fight to hold on to power.”

Dr Walsh said the administration had been running the council ‘fairly, openly and inclusively’.

Calling the motion ‘an unwelcome and unneeded distraction’, he said that dealing with the pandemic and keeping people safe and healthy took priority.

He added: “I will vigorously defend our record of delivery, and do not intend to stand down, but to see our promises through, with cross-party support of the council.

“I have 40 years of local government experience – the Tory group leader just 18 months at Arun.”

Accusing the Tories of failing to give ‘one instance of what they would do differently at this crucial time’, Dr Walsh said: “They hunger after what they see as their right to be in power, and will stop at nothing to achieve that, even at a time of a national emergency.

“If they truly believed in unity, they would be supporting the current shared unity administration, and not trying to wreck it and bring uncertainty and division into our local government.”

The motion will be put to a meeting of the full council on November 11.