Last Friday evening was the Annual Council meeting at Crawley Borough Council. Since 2014 when Labour took political control of the Council, we have seen this annual meeting showcase Labour’s arrogance towards democracy and display contempt for those who don’t support Jeremy Corbyn’s party.
Despite only having a very small majority on the Council, Labour exercise power as though Crawley has a one-party Council, especially when it comes to allocating any positions of responsibility at the Council. This means that Conservative Councillors who have both experience and expertise, are deliberately overlooked to be committee chairs or vice-chairs in favour of Labour Councillors who have neither. This is because Labour have run out of options from their own side as all their other Councillors have already been allocated positions.
Last Friday I witnessed the Labour Administration at Crawley Borough Council lose any remaining credibility by their forcing through of their nominees for chair of Licensing and deputy mayor over vastly more experienced and qualified Conservative nominees. In both cases, they had only been Councillors for one year, have made no impact at the Council and are both most notable for not turning up to meetings. In the case of the deputy mayor, Labour’s nominee has only lived in Crawley for three years. Using the criteria of length of service and residency in the town, their new deputy mayor is by far the least qualified Councillor out of the entire Council for this role. If Labour cannot treat the position of Crawley’s deputy mayor with any respect, how do they expect anyone else to?
Voting for this shambles was a Councillor who is also Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Crawley, who himself has also only lived in Crawley for three years and who previously stood in Arundel and South Downs. Labour like to claim only they are committed to Crawley but it is the Conservatives who are most committed to the town. Henry Smith has never stood for election anywhere else and before being our MP for the last seven years, he was an elected Councillor in Crawley for the previous 13 years.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
24th May 2017