THE leader of Cornwall Council has retained her position after a motion to remove her was defeated.
In a tetchy, tense and often disruptive extraordinary full council meeting held to discuss and vote on a motion to remove her as leader, councillors traded blows as they sought to explain why they would vote in support or against the motion concerning Cllr Linda Taylor.
Cllr Taylor survived the vote to remove her as leader, with 32 councillors voting in favour of her removal, while 43 councillors voted against and 5 abstained.
The motion was brought by Cllr John Conway, shortly after resigning as a member of the Conservative party.
At multiple points during the meeting, councillors were frequently stopped in their tracks for deviating from the subject of the meeting, trading insults or for points of order.
Cllr Barry Jordan (Camelford and Boscastle, Conservative) compared Linda Taylor to Margaret Thatcher, bringing laughter from the chamber. He said that she is leading through difficult times with certain people wanting to hurt her, adding that in his view, “anyone voting for this motion is not voting for Cornwall.”
Supporters of Cllr Taylor also made other allegations against the opposition councillors while explaining why they wished to retain her. Cabinet member Cllr Connor Donnithorne alleged that councillors had been threatened to vote for the motion to remove the leader.
Cllr Louis Gardiner caused outrage in the chamber when he suggested that those voting to remove the leader were doing so because she was a woman, not because of her leadership. He branded those councillors as ‘misogynists’ and failed to withdraw the remark when repeatedly challenged on it.
Liberal Democrat councillor Adrian Parsons, after apologising for a late arrival due to another collision on the A30 at Plusha, reminded councillors of ‘previous debacles involving the leadership’, such as the abandoned bid for a mayor for Cornwall in order to secure a devolution deal.
Peter Le Broy (Independent, Bude), said how diligent Cllr Taylor was in previous council and referred to a cross party collegiate feel of the council previous to her leadership.
He added that this council feels very different now. On the previous council, he was lucky enough to work across benches to put some really good work in.
He also described parking proposals as absolute madness and added that in his view the administration has lost focus.
Dulcie Tudor, member of Threemilestone and Chacewater praised Cllr Taylor for being the first female leader of the council.
She mentioned the Newquay Airport sale proposals as a long list of projects where members have been kept in the dark. She says the problems were inherited from the previous administration, and said they had done a worse job than Cllr Taylor.