The leader of Kirklees Council has been sacked after a vote of no confidence

The leader of Kirklees Council has been sacked after a motion of no confidence was passed.

Cathy Scott previously led the council’s Labor group but resigned from the party in May to stand as an independent.

The motion, tabled by Remain Labor members earlier, said Ms Scott had “no legitimate mandate” to fill the role.

Following a new vote, new Labor group leader Carole Pattison, who tabled the motion of no confidence, was elected leader of the council.

Ms Scott left the Labor group after Ms Pattison was elected as the new leader following the local elections, but continued as council leader as an independent.

She went on to form the Kirklees Community Alliance with five other former Labor councillors, four of them Cabinet members, who are also independents.

Speaking at a council meeting earlier about the motion of no confidence, Ms Pattison said: “Giving political direction to the seventh largest metropolitan authority comes with responsibility.

“We’re not playing around here, we’re not fighting to run a candy store.”

She described Ms Scott’s decision to form an independent panel on the loss of the Labor caucus leadership “a travesty of democracy”.

She added: “The Community Alliance has no policies, no history, no structure at local, regional or national level to ensure the support and capacity of its members.”

In response, Ms Scott described the motion as “deeply flawed” and said it had “generated a wave of negativity, hostility and trolls” who had made threats against her and the cabinet.

She said: “(The movement) is not based on the ability of the leader or their performance.

“It comes from a perceived lack of mandate and, frankly, a sense of entitlement by the opposition Labor group.”

Emotions ran high in the boardroom Wednesday, with councilors at one point warned not to get too personal.

That emotion was clear on Cathy Scott’s face, after all it was a motion made by people she had worked closely with only a few weeks ago.

After being ousted as Labor group leader, she was expected to step down as council leader to allow Carole Pattison to take over the role.

But she refused to budge, saying she had a mandate to run the authority.

The further twist came when she left Labor to set up the Kirklees Community Alliance with a handful of other councilors and still tried to hold on to power.

Tonight’s vote highlighted just how politically unstable Kirklees Council is at the moment, with no party holding a majority after Labour’s share of seats fell to just 24 out of 69.

And with the next election not until 2026, it could stay that way.

Furthermore, while the council may have resolved the issue of who will lead, there are still big issues ahead.

Like many other local authorities, Kirklees faces some significant financial challenges and without a majority when it comes to things like adopting a budget or local plan it could be really difficult without building alliances across the board. The room.

The motion was passed after 23 councilors voted in favor, while 18 voted against and 18 chose to abstain.

It said: “We believe the current leader and their new group have no legitimate mandate from this council or the people of Kirklees. The leadership of this small and newly formed minority party is not sustainable.

“We therefore resolve to see the current leader removed from office and a new leader duly elected by this board.”

At the same meeting, a motion that would have seen the board move from a leader-and-cabinet model to a committee system was not voted on.