Thursday 7 July 2022

ON A DAY of political turmoil and resignations nationally, a bombshell resignation rocked the ruling Conservative Party on East Riding Council. In a statement published by the former deputy council leader, Cllr Mike Stathers announced he was quitting the Party, saying: “Treachery and betrayal that is rife at Westminster is also prevalent at East Riding Council.”

Cllr Stathers, who represents Wolds Weighton Ward, said continual in-fighting within the 43-strong Conservative group for almost two years had led to stagnation. And he said since the appointment of current council Leader Jonathan Owen, who succeeded former Leader Richard Burton, policies of openness had been scrapped. He told Beverley FM: “The closed door policy is back and almost all key decisions are made by senior officers, not the elected members.”

Cllr Stathers, who says he will continue to sit on the council as an Independent, told us: “Morale among members and staff is at an all-time low. Staff are leaving in their droves for better paid jobs in the private sector. In recent weeks, some leisure services have had to be cancelled due to a shortage of qualified employees and the Council is so short of refuse lorry drivers that supervisors have had to take the wheel.”

He continued:  “I feel I can no longer represent an organisation that is riddled with treachery and betrayal both at national and local levels. The scandalous behaviour of some of our MPs and Ministers at Westminster is nothing short of disgraceful and while I have always been proud to wear the blue badge of Conservatism, that same badge is today one of dishonour and shame.”

PRESS STATEMENT

FROM COUNCILLOR MIKE STATHERS, FORMER DEPUTY LEADER OF THE EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE COUNCIL

It is with some regret that I am today announcing my resignation from the Conservative Party with immediate effect. 

In addition, I will be leaving the Conservative Group of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the East Yorkshire Constituency Conservative Association.

I have served as a councillor in the Wolds Weighton Ward for almost eight years and in that time have had the privilege to have been appointed to some of the Group’s most senior positions, including Deputy Leader, a member of the Cabinet and Chief Whip, all at different times.

However, I feel I can no longer represent an organisation that is riddled with treachery and betrayal both at national and local levels. The scandalous behaviour of some of our MPs and Ministers at Westminster is nothing short of disgraceful and while I have always been proud to wear the blue badge of Conservatism, that same badge is today one of dishonour and shame.

Treachery and betrayal that is rife at Westminster is also prevalent at ERYC. For almost two years, our Group has stagnated as a result of continual in-fighting. Having previously gone through an extended unbroken Leadership period, Richard Burton, when appointed the new Leader, introduced a refreshing change of culture, an open door policy, more openness in debates, a move to bring back decision control to elected members and out of the hands of officers.

As Deputy to Richard, I was proud to be part of that programme for a year, a year in which we introduced a raft of exciting projects that would benefit the lives of all East Riding residents, projects including a new and much-needed tourism strategy, a new housing policy to provide more affordable homes, an intent to deploy more commercialism to create new revenue streams and ease the pressure on Council Tax, a network of digital innovation centres across the East Riding to encourage youngsters to develop their skills and businesses ‘at home’.

During the 15 months or so of Jonathan Owen’s Leadership, almost all these projects have been shelved. The closed door policy is back and almost all key decisions are made by senior officers, not the elected members.

Morale among members and staff is at an all-time low. Staff are leaving in their droves for better paid jobs in the private sector. In recent weeks, some leisure services have had to be cancelled due to a shortage of qualified employees and the Council is so short of refuse lorry drivers that supervisors have had to take the wheel.

As one very senior officer said to me recently: “We just don’t pay enough. We can’t recruit the numbers we need. We are an unfunctioning Council”.

In just two years, ERYC has gone from being officially the country’s  ‘Council of the Year’ to an ‘unfunctioning’ Council’. Shame.

The Conservative Group, now standing at 43, has many excellent, loyal, hard-working members, many of them I call my friends, but as with any large majority political Group there are those whose priority is money and position rather than duty to their residents.

Indeed, the residents of the East Riding deserve more, a Leadership that will bring greater prosperity, better housing, better public transport, more help for those struggling through the cost of living crisis, a Leadership that is not frightened to bang on the door of Government and ask for more money.

We have talked about a devolution deal for the East Riding and Hull for an eternity. Like it or not, this is what the Government has imposed on us, but are we any nearer a deal? No. As long as we remain in this limbo-land, other regions will benefit from agreed devolution deals while we become a funding wilderness, not able to pay for road repairs, collect the bins, fill the pot-holes, cut the grass, or deliver the 600 plus public services currently expected of the Council.

We are just over nine months away from the next round of local elections and even Conservative Group officers are predicting that more than half of the current members will not seek re-election, and if recent by-election results in South Hunsley and Bridlington North are to go by then the face of ERYC from next May will change significantly.

Perhaps, after decades of Conservative control, that is just what the East Riding and its residents need. New faces, new ideas, new energy – less political in-fighting.

As for me, I will continue to do what I set out to do nearly eight years ago – be a hard-working, respectful Ward councillor, focussing on helping the many rural parishes of Wolds Weighton, giving assistance to residents when required, working closely with our Parish Councils. Let’s see what next May brings!