WHO will be the next Mayor of Basingstoke?
The town’s most senior role has become shrouded in controversy after Basingstoke and Deane borough council’s Tory administration failed to back Phil Heath, the current Deputy Mayor and most senior member of the council, who was due to take the position in May.
At an extraordinary meeting this week, Cllr Keith Chapman, due to serve as Deputy in 2010/2011 before taking up the head role a year later, was voted as the new Mayor-elect ahead of a crunch meeting on May 13. The longest-serving member of the council normally takes on the role for one year, before giving way to the next most senior councillor.
But this tradition has been broken due to a lack of support from many of the Conservatives for Cllr Heath, who is being investigated by the Standards committee for a number of allegations against him. A former Tory, Cllr Heath left the party last year but attempts to block him have been labelled ‘unconstitutional’.
Again the town’s Labour group refused to take part in a vote for the preferred nomination of Mayor, and left the council chamber. In their absence, 26 voted for Cllr Chapman, a Conservative cabinet member, while 16 voted for Cllr Heath and five abstained.
But the final decision cannot be made until the annual council meeting in May, meaning Monday’s vote was purely indicative. A third of the council’s seats are up for election on May 6 and the outcome could have a massive bearing on who takes office.
The Mayor elect should spend these next few months booking events, talking with chosen charities and preparing for the year ahead but with two councillors competing for the role, it remains unclear which charities will benefit from thousands-of-pounds worth of funding next year.
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