Many will have heard that I've announced
my resignation as an East Riding of Yorkshire Councillor representing the
people of Howdenshire - I'm very sorry to the many who've offered me support
over the past few weeks, especially Howdenshire residents - but to continue to
represent you as your Councillor has become impossible - due to the barriers
that would be put up by the ruling ‘political elite’ at County Hall.
It is with a degree of sadness
that after talking to my family, friends and many Howdenshire residents I have taken
the decision to resign, and concentrate all my efforts on my new role as Deputy
Police & Crime Commissioner for Humberside.
Many will be aware that the
Labour Group at County Hall brought forward a motion at Wednesday’s full Council
meeting saying the role of Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner was incompatible
with holding office as a Councillor - this,
even though the legal advice and messages from the government were clearly saying
the opposite.
Rather than dealing with the
motion, what I witnessed on Wednesday was an orchestrated attack on me by the
ruling ‘political elite’ at County Hall. The debate from the Conservative side was led
by the Council Leader, Deputy Leader and senior Councillors, much was based on
perception, very little was fact based, and a great deal was very personal and
little to do with the question posed in the motion.
It made me realise that if I
stayed on, whilst without any payment, barriers would be constantly put up
which would have damaged the interests of Howdenshire residents. I therefore thought about it again after the
meeting and decided the next morning that, in the circumstances, it would be
best to resign, it was time to make the break and I wanted everything over and
done with.
The barriers to performing my
role as an East Riding of Yorkshire Councillor would have been political,
rather than anything involving the officers and the way the council functions
from an administrative point of view.
The Leader of the Council being reported
as saying he was ‘delighted at my decision to step down’ probably speaks
volumes.
I have unfinished Council
business which dictates that I won’t be able to stand down immediately, but
probably in March. This includes the
conclusion of work on the Gilberdyke/Newport Tip, the final phase on the flood
alleviation programme in Gilberdyke, the proposed path between Gilberdyke and
Howden, a couple of wind farm applications, and unfinished casework for
individual residents.
This remaining work is very
typical of what I’ve done over the past 6 years, almost all is detailed here on
my blog – ironically, I would NOT have been prevented from doing almost all of
this if I continued as a Councillor as there would have been no so called ‘conflicts
of interest’ or incompatibility between the roles of Councillor and Deputy
Police and Crime Commissioner.
It has been an absolute privilege
to serve the residents of Howdenshire over the past six years – I may not be
your Councillor in the future but I will always be your voice.