‘Be polite’, says new council leader after City Hall’s toxic claims

Nuneaton and Borough Council leader Bedworth has urged all councilors to “be polite” amid claims of toxicity at City Hall. Last night, May 15, Councilor Chris Watkins was voted in as the new leader of the council.

This was contested by the Conservatives, who nominated former leader Cllr Kris Wilson as leader. This was lost to a vote and Cllr Watkins was voted in as leader of the council.

In his first speech, he thanked the council’s election staff for all their hard work, then welcomed all the new councillors. But in doing so, he urged them to “be polite” in the room.

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There have been claims that the atmosphere in the council chamber has become “toxic” ahead of local elections. When Labor came to power, Cllr Watkins said one of his first priorities was to tackle this.

At the time, he said: “To be honest, I was expecting to get the council back because of the toxicity at City Hall. It’s not something residents want to see and it’s not something that will be continued under Labour. “

He echoed that sentiment at last night’s annual council meeting and said: “I would like to welcome all the new members we have here in the room today and I hope that this year we can work with courtesy and have a good atmosphere . in this room”.

The new mayor, Councilor Bill Hancox, in his acceptance speech, also urged councilors to “treat each other with respect”. “We will not always agree, that is the nature of politics, but we should remember that we were all elected to do what is best for all residents of the borough.

“They put their trust in us. Let’s not let them down.”

As well as urging courtesy in the room, council leader Cllr Watkins also paid tribute to Brent Davis, the council’s chief executive, who is retiring at the end of this month after working at the local authority for more than two decades.

The new cabinet has been unveiled

There are plenty of new faces in the chamber following the local elections, many of them Labor councillors, after the group increased its seats from five to 20. Having taken control from the Tories, who now have 16 councillors, the council leader has unveiled a new cabinet and a shake-up of cabinet positions, with housing now becoming a portfolio in its own right and finance becoming part of the new resource and customer service position.

As well as being leader, Cllr Watkins will be responsible for the housing portfolio. Cllr Jill Sheppard has been appointed Deputy Leader and will be cabinet member for environment and public services.

Cllr Steve Hey is the new cabinet member for resources and customer services, while Cllr Tim Jenkins will be portfolio holder for leisure, communities and health. The new cabinet member for business and regeneration is Cllr Nicola King.

Cllr Rob Roze is the new planning and enforcement portfolio holder. The first meeting of the new-look cabinet takes place in the boardroom on Wednesday, May 22.

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