Showdown likely for control of Crawley council

Peter Lamb wrote to Conservative leader Duncan Crow after two Labour councillors quit the party, leaving the Tories with the most seats on the council.

Mother and son Karen Sudan and Rory Fiveash will now serve as independent members.

Their decision leaves the council with 17 Conservative councillors, 16 Labour and two independents, with one seat vacant following the death of Geraint Thomas in November.

The issue will come to a head on July 15 during a meeting of the full council where the vote of no confidence is expected to be tabled.

Mr Lamb said Mrs Sudan had recently challenged him for the leadership and ‘lost heavily’.

Branding both her and Mr Fiveash ‘pretty irresponsible’ for throwing the council into disarray in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis, he said: “Given how at the moment we’re trying to deal with emergency response to a whole range of things, complicated budget issues and the ongoing stuff around Covid, it is a pretty irresponsible time to be putting the council in this position.

“But if that’s what they’ve done that’s what they’ve done and the rest of us just have to try to deal with the consequences.”

Explaining what was likely to happen if the no confidence vote was carried, Mr Lamb said a contest would be held to find the new leader – and he would probably put his name back into the hat.

He said: “Then the question is whether or not former Labour members choose to allow a Conservative administration to form or not.

“Whoever is leader they will have a minority council trying to deal with things.”

Mr Lamb added: “The reality is I’m very likely to be out two weeks from now.

“We’re going to keep going on until such time as we are removed – and in that time I’ve got one heck of a lot of stuff I need to try and get done around economic development.

“It is sad bearing in mind that people voted for these people on the expectation that they would pursue the policies that are set out in the manifesto – but when it comes down to it, it seems to be about personality.”

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.