What each party leader has said about vote of no confidence in Labour administration on Peterborough City Council

The meeting takes place on Wednesday evening (June 18) – and could see a change in the leadership of the authority, with Peterborough First looking to take control.

Ahead of the meeting, Wayne Fitzgerald, the leader of the Conservative group on Peterborough City Council says its members will not be told how to vote over the motion of no confidence in the Labour administration – but a “consensus” will be agreed beforehand.

In 2023, a similar move saw the Conservative, then leading the authority, ousted, with Peterborough First taking over.

This year, Peterborough First, Liberal Democrat and Green Party groups have formed an alliance in a bid to oust current leader Dennis Jones and form a new administration, a move Cllr Jones dubbed a “politically-motivated back room plot”.

All city councillors will have the opportunity to vote on the motion of no confidence at a meeting on Wednesday, June 18.

The motion states that a reduction in Labour group members has “led opposition members to doubting the capacity of the administration to effectively deliver”.

The current make up of the council includes: 17 Labour councillors, 13 Peterborough First councillors, 11 Conservative councillors, eight Liberal Democrat councillors, six independent councillors and five Green Party councillors.

With the Conservative group deciding not to back the alliance, it is expected to be a close vote on the night with a potential deciding mayoral vote if needed.

Cllr Fitzgerald has confirmed that there will be no whip over Conservative members on the night, meaning they are free to vote either way, but there will be a general consensus made at a meeting of its members on Monday, June 16.

He said: “The Conservative group, despite what people think, generally vote as they will. We don’t whip people per se, we reach consensus.”

If the motion is voted through, a Peterborough First councillor will be put forward to become the new leader.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke to each group leader on the council ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.

What each group leader had to say

Cllr Dennis Jones (Labour) – current leader of the council

Cllr Jones has been leader of the council since last May, when Labour won the most seats to form a minority administration.

When the potential takeover was revealed, a Labour spokesperson said it was “deeply disappointing”

Cllr Jones said he was “incredibly proud” of the work Peterborough Labour had done so far.

He added: “While it is true that financial pressures remain for Peterborough City Council, and councils across the UK, our Labour administration remains committed to rebuilding the foundations of our council, delivering high quality services and protecting taxpayers’ money.

“That Peterborough First, and other parties, would choose this point to call a vote of no confidence shows that they care more about political point scoring than they do about delivering for Peterborough residents. Their actions do nothing but risk throwing Peterborough back into instability and chaos.

“Having risked bankruptcy by refusing to back a budget for the council this year – despite not putting forward any alternative ideas – it is clear that Peterborough First have no real plan for our city and are playing games with this politically motivated back-room plot.”

Cllr Chris Harper (Peterborough First)

Cllr Harper became Peterborough First’s leader when he was re-elected at the group’s AGM in May, taking over from Cllr Mohammed Farooq.

Ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, he said: “We’re not going in the right direction. There’s important decisions to make and I think to get those decisions through we need a strong administration.

“The numbers and quality of people we offer, we think, is the best way forward. We’re very positive that this is the right thing for the city.

“It is a fairly close vote but it if it comes through as we expect it to come through then we should be fine.”

Cllr Harper did not give any indication as to who would be put forward as a leader if the vote goes through, but confirmed it would be a Peterborough First councillor.

Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald (Conservative)

Cllr Fitzgerald confirmed that his group would be meeting on June 16 to discuss Wednesday’s agenda and agree a consensus.

He added: “As for the coup, it is ill-thought out, ill-timed and unnecessary. Nobody has given any explanation as to why it is necessary or set out a plan or vision for those that would be running the city.

“We don’t have a view at the moment other than we don’t understand why it’s happening. We’re going to do the very best for the city, that’s our job.”

In similar circumstances, a vote of no confidence in November 2023 saw Cllr Fitzgerald ousted as council leader and replaced by Peterborough First.

Cllr Christian Hogg (Liberal Democrats)

Explaining why the Liberal Democrat group lost faith in the current Labour administration, Cllr Hogg said: “There has been some decisions that I wouldn’t have made or certainly in the way that they were made.

“I think the overriding reason for it is the fact that Labour started off with 19 councillors and have now depleted down to 17, and that’s a small percentage of the council.

“They have not made any deals with other parties in terms of going into an administration with them or a confidence and supply arrangement.

“I feel that that makes for an unstable and inequitable council. I think we [Peterborough First, Lib Dems, Greens] have a rich pool of talent in which to draw from and it’s broad ranged as well.

“We are a spectrum of political views and that makes for better decision making.”

Cllr Hogg said that he was “quietly confident” about the motion being voted through, but admitted it could depend on who turns up on the night.

Cllr Heather Skibsted (Green Party)

Cllr Skibsted, whose group forms part of the alliance looking to take control of the council, said: “We feel that as a group we have got lots of skills, knowledge and experience and can offer a broader range.

“We’ve got more numbers and therefore represent more of the city’s residents.”

Speaking about Wednesday’s vote, she added: “I wouldn’t like to put a bet on it but we are reasonably confident. We will see what happens on the day.

“We’ve got a very good working agreement and have pledged to work together to get things going and to benefit the city in any way we can.

“If we do succeed, we would still like to reach out and continue to work with all parties. We need to work with other parties to achieve what we think is important.”