It’s Groundhog Day! (Again.) - HDC Conservatives elect another leader
At an Extraordinary Meeting of Horsham District Council on 2 February 2023, the Conservative majority group in HDC have voted for Cllr Clair Vickers (Southwater North) to be their 4th leader in 18 months.
The decision was not unanimous. The previous leader, Cllr Jonathan Chowen, voted against and there were some notable Conservative absences.
Cllr Vickers follows in the footsteps of Cllrs Ray Dawe, Paul Clarke and Jonathan Chowen, all of whom lost their jobs because of relentless party infighting over the new Local Plan. After many failed attempts, the Conservatives have now delayed a decision to the other side of the May elections.
Cllr Martin Boffey, Lib Dem Group Leader HDC, questioned the need for yet another new leader:
“The Conservative Group has proven incapable of governing even itself. Having got through 3 leaders in less than two years, why would anyone trust them to propose yet another? It has been the same issue that has brought them all down - the Local Plan - which they have refused to bring to Council for a vote for electoral reasons. And yet now they propose to appoint the Councillor who bears the greatest share of responsibility for the contents of the plan as Leader? This is plainly ridiculous and we have lost all confidence in any proposal for Leader that the Conservative Group could make.”
Will a new leader bring a new approach?
Cllr Vickers was previously the Cabinet Member for Planning for many years. Above all, this Local Plan is her own creation. The recommended sites are all there as a result of the choices she made.
Therefore, if the Conservatives retain control in HDC, the likelihood is that she will simply bring back the Plan as it is now, and some Conservative councillors have been heard saying as much.
So why bother to delay the Plan?
The value of the delay for the Conservatives is to avoid bad publicity at the election. In the same way, the proposal to build on Rookwood was kept secret till after the 2019 election.
Delay is particularly important for Cllr Vickers herself. As a Southwater councillor, she faces strong public anger at the large Berkeley Homes development proposed for her own ward.
Will she be the last leader?
With just a few months to go before the May elections, there’s probably no time for rebellion number 4.
There’s also no time for her to do anything. The Council will shortly enter the election ‘purdah’ period when actions are limited.
Cllr Martin Boffey added:
“It’s bizarre how local Horsham Conservatives are exactly imitating their Westminster colleagues. Every time we get a new Prime Minister, we get a new Leader at HDC too! Meanwhile nothing much changes in either place.”