Local Elections 2011: Labour in bid to oust council leader Jeff Green

May 11 2011 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

Labour in bid to oust Green

LABOUR have requested a vote of no confidence in Wirral’s council leader in a bid to seize power again after last week’s local elections.

Leader and Conservative councillor Jeff Green now awaits the outcome of discussions between the three parties after an election which left no single party with a majority.

For the last year Cllr Green has led a Conservative-Liberal Democrat partnership after the Lib Dems split from a coalition with Labour.

A good night for Labour saw them become the largest group on 29 with the Conservatives still on 27 seats.

But Cllr Green will remain in place as council leader unless he loses the vote of no confidence.

The Lib-Dems plummeted to 10 after a disastrous night which saw them lose five councillors including leader Simon Holbrook in Prenton and cabinet member Bob Moon in Bromborough.

The former Lib Dem leader, who lost his seat to Labour’s Paul Doughty, said the result set the local party back ten years.

His replacement as leader is experienced Eastham councillor Tom Harney, who was voted in when the party met on Saturday.

Newly-appointed deputy Lib Dem leader Dave Mitchell said that, with two former leaders among their group, they had the skills needed to move forward.

Cllr Harney was away when the News went to press and was expected to return on Wednesday, with discussions taking place after that.

He admitted: “This is a difficult time for the Liberal Democrats in Wirral. There can be no doubt that that last week's election results were very bad for us and that we lost some outstanding councillors.

“The presence and input of Simon Holbrook, Bob Moon and Peter Reisdorf will be greatly missed by the group but we must now move forward.

“We will continue to work hard on behalf of all Wirral residents. I will be having discussions with the other two parties over the course of the next few days before making any decisions about what we will do next.”

Cllr Green congratulated Tom Harney on being elected leader of the Lib-Dems and said he hoped to meet him later this week.

He said: “It's hard to tell what Labour want because they just campaigned on national issues.”

For Labour to succeed in ousting Conservatives they would need the help of the Lib Dems – although whether they can tempt them into a coalition remains open to question – Cllrs Harney and Mitchell were among the rebels who opposed Labour's controversial libraries plan.