For the next four years Darlington Council policies will be dictated by eight people whom most voters didn’t want.
Labour received only 35.1 percent of the votes cast at this month’s elections but they will be in power despite nearly twice as many people voting against them as for them.
The leader of the 24 Labour councillors has forged a coalition with the borough’s three Lib Dem councillors, which means that the majority of voters – 60 per cent who chose other parties -- have been betrayed, says the Green Party.
Labour will stick to a cabinet-style system, under which all major policy is decided by just eight members of the “winning” coalition who are personally selected by the council leader.
“That makes the new council even less democratic,” says Darlington Green Party group leader Matthew Snedker. “One of those eight will be a Lib Dem whose party won just 4.7 percent of the votes.
“Concentrating all the power of the council in the hands of seven Labour and one LibDem councillors is anti-democratic and dangerous for the borough when most people wanted to be governed by neither party. In addition, there are fears of meddling by Labour’s National Executive Committee following a number of cases where they blocked decisions made by local parties.”
He said it was clear from the Green Party’s big gains, receiving 18.7 percent of the vote and five more councillors in Darlington, that people had moved on from two-party politics.
“The people are calling for more cooperation between parties and are suspicious of any one group holding all the power,” he said.
“In Darlington, the Green Party now has seven councillors. They understand the importance of avoiding the potential disruption of Labour trying to grab power when they have insufficient councillors to take overall control.
Senior Green Party members in Darlington understand the need to step up and provide a democratic, stable and proportionate administration for the good of the town.
“We talked to Labour about our preference for a more open, democratic process, replacing the cabinet system, as we favour committees containing people from all parties,” said Councillor Snedker. “However, Labour wanted to stick with the cabinet system with all the power centralised and decision making in the hands of just 8 controlling councillors.
“We are deeply disappointed that the Lib Dems have agreed to continue with the controlling cabinet system, despite it being their party policy to improve democracy and transparency in local government.”
He said his party will continue to campaign for more open and transparent decision-making in Darlington where all voices are heard and all parties get a say in how our town is run.
“And we will be standing firm on our pledges to be good stewards of Skerningham Woodland and the surrounding area , through a strong design code, and to take action to deliver a reliable and accessible bus service.
“People who voted for us because we are the hardest-working party can be reassured that, whatever direction the new coalition takes, our growing Green group will continue to repay voters’ faith in us. Their interests are not only our first priority but our only priority.”