Council still without a leader after meeting chaos

Kirklees Council remains without a majority - or a leader - after a chaotic annual meeting.

Wednesday's talks should have seen a decision made on who would lead the council - but instead a large portion of the meeting consisted of a back-and-forth between councillors over what was and was not understood.

Reform UK group leader Councillor Sarah Wood and Green Party head Councillor Andrew Cooper nominated themselves for the next council leader role.

Neither was able to secure a majority after two votes, and the chamber descended into debate.

Councillor Martyn Bolt for the Conservative Party called for a "suspension of orders" which would prevent any councillors from abstaining from the vote.

However, this was branded "undemocratic" by Reform's Wood, who said that not all the newly elected candidates "understood the constitution".

Wood said: "We are at a disadvantage, we do not necessarily know what we are voting for and therefore this we consider not to be a democratic process."

Fellow Reform councillor Rob Butler agreed, saying: "We are being manoeuvred with a game play when we do not know the rules and I do not think that is right."

Independent councillor Tanisha Bramwell stood up despite calls for an adjournment to disagree with the statements from Wood.

"When you are elected you have to prioritise educating yourself on how to be the best councillor and representative for your area, that is on you," Bramwell said.

"To call that unconstitutional is absolutely incorrect and it is not right."

Eventually a poll was taken on whether there should be a "head-to-head" vote, but this was narrowly defeated with Reform and the Conservatives voting against.

The meeting continued with councillors working through the rest of the agenda, deciding on other topics such as the formation of committees.

There was more confusion when councillors were called to decide on whether voting within the council would be proportional.

Though traditionally no councillors vote against, 27 voted "no", including the newly elected Deputy Mayor Lee Cliff.

This led to further exchanges over which procedures were and were not understood by councillors.

The vote was then re-taken, and all members voted "yes".

Eventually, still without a leader, the session concluded, with Reform UK immediately leaving for a group meeting.

The election of a council leader was postponed until next Thursday.

Reform UK is the largest party at Kirklees Council following the 7 May elections, with 29 out of the 69 seats, but falls short of a majority.

The Greens have 12, Independents 11, Conservatives nine, Liberal Democrats five and Valley Independent Group three.

The BBC has approached the Reform group for comment.

Additional reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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