South Wales Evening Post - 30 March 2007
A bid to make outspoken councillor Ioan Richard Swansea's next Lord Mayor has been dropped.
Swansea Council leader Chris Holley had planned to table a motion at a meeting on Monday calling for another vote over the nomination for the coming year.
But it's claimed the bid has been blown out of the water by Labour and Conservative leaders who are said to have been planning on voting against the motion.
Councillor Holley is now having to retract the motion rather than face an embarrassing defeat.
Councillor Richard has labelled the saga the "dirtiest of politics".
It is the second time that Labour councillors and Conservative group leader Rene Kinzett have scuppered Councillor Richard's bid for the high profile civic role.
The Mawr councillor has served as deputy Lord Mayor for the past 11 months and council protocol would usually see him take on the full role the following year.
But opposition councillors defeated his nomination last month opting instead for Councillor Susan Waller.
A special council meeting was planned for Monday to look again at the issue but Swansea Council has now confirmed that it has been cancelled.
Councillor Holley was hoping to force another vote on Monday but has now dumped the move.
He said: "I was disappointed that Councillor Ioan Richard was not elected Lord Mayor for the coming year, however, that was right for council to decide.
"I am pleased that we have now found a way forward which will preserve the integrity of the office of Lord Mayor and maintain the dignity of the election process for that office.
"I look forward to Councillor Sue Waller's year as Lord Mayor as I know she will carry out her duties magnificently."
Councillor Richard said he was disappointed that the motion had fallen.
He said: "It was not my decision to pull out. In fact I was looking forward to the vote on Monday.
"However, I realise I was in a no win situation when the leader of the Conservatives declared that the majority of his group were now going to vote with Labour's block vote against me.
"The last few weeks have been extremely stressful for my wife and myself. We would like to thank everyone who has supported us, especially my own Mawr ward constituents who have supported me tremendously for so many years.
"They feel very insulted by this political bullying. I emphasise again that I have never ever been found guilty of any breach of conduct, this is just politics at its very dirtiest."
Councillor Kinzett said that the Monday meeting was highly controversial and could set a dangerous precedent in revisiting a council decision so soon.
He said: "There was never any conspiracy to deny Councillor Richard his place, and any suggestion by him of deals between opposition parties to block him are total fantasies.
"The only deals done were those agreed by the leader of the council.
"It was Chris Holley who decided to cancel the meeting and it was his proposal to which the leaders of the other parties agreed."
Plaid leader Darren Price added: "We want to see a working group set up to look at this complicated Lord Mayor situation and ensure that the longest serving councillors, including Ioan Richard, are rewarded."
