Council leader voted out after no confidence motion

A council leader has been voted out following a motion of no confidence.

Jeremy Hilton, of Gloucester City Council, lost a motion of no confidence by 21 votes to 18 on Thursday evening. He then failed to win a second vote to reinstate him to the position, in a move branded "crazy" and a "farce" by opposition councillors.

The Liberal Democrat, who has run a minority administration on the council for two years, said the council had a "toxic atmosphere".

The authority has been left with no leader or cabinet after all seven members resigned en-masse following the votes.

Hilton called opposition councillors "a bunch of chickens" for not putting themselves forward to take on the leadership role.

The original motion of no confidence was submitted by independent councillor, Alastair Chambers, over claims of financial mismanagement and a lack of transparency.

Speaking in the meeting, Chambers branded Hilton's leadership a "disgrace" and said "scrutiny is not an inconvenience, it's democracy."

Leader of the Conservative group, Stephanie Chambers, said Hilton had "lost his way" and Labour group leader, Terry Pullen, told him "no-one believes you anymore".

A number of Liberal Democrats voiced their support for Hilton in the meeting.

Councillor Liam Harries said Hilton had been subject to "political games" and councillor Caroline Courtney claimed it was a "staggering" and "nasty" motion.

Hilton said the council under his leadership had done and "exceptionally good job" and claimed he had suffered "personal attacks" on his reputation during the meeting.

He showed little emotion as the initial result was read out before a break was called.

The Liberal Democrat group decided to renominate Hilton when the meeting resumed, to the disbelief of opposition councillors.

Conservative councillor Sajid Patel said the group were "living in la la land", while Chambers described the move as "extremely sad" and told the chamber the council was "more important than one person".

Liberal Democrat councillor Sebastian Field said he was not sure why the opposition was "surprised" with the renomination .

"We have the right to elect our leader and it's not for the opposition to dictate who is out group leader," he said.

"Jeremy Hilton is the best person to lead Gloucester City Council."

The vote to reinstate him was lost by 18 to 21.

The Liberal Democrat group, which is the largest on the council, said it would not be putting any other member forward for the leadership job.

The cabinet then resigned en-masse, and some members decided to leave the meeting.

It is anticipated opposition councillors will now go away to see if they can reach an agreement on how the council should be run, whether through a formal coalition or a series of ad hock agreements.

But it is not clear when a decision will be made.

Hilton declined to comment after the vote.

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