Local politics is a bloody business! Against all the odds, in May 2023, with the political storms raging, Conservatives in East Cambs retained their administration of the District Council, winning 15 seats out of 28, with the Liberal Democrat party winning the other 13.
I would like to think that it had a lot to do with the record of our administration of the Council - Council Tax frozen for 11 years, free parking in our town and city centre car parks, massive delivery of community infrastructure projects, zero external borrowing, etc.
It was therefore a bitter blow that Cllr James Lay, who was elected to the Council as the Conservative Candidate for the Woodditton Ward with 54% of the vote, decided in November to align himself with the Liberal Democrats on the Council, where they have together formed a new Group.
This news was particularly surprising, given that James’ dissatisfaction with the administration of the Council was, he informed us, to do with the fact that the Council had to pull out of Judicial Review proceedings to challenge the Government’s decision to grant planning permission for the Sunnica solar farm development near Newmarket and villages to the south of East Cambs.
The joint legal action was dropped when Cambridgeshire County Council, which is led by the Liberal Democrat party, pulled out of the agreed joint action.
I am really saddened that James chose not to talk to me about the situation with Sunnica. Had he done so, I think he would have realised that it had become unjustifiable for the Council to pursue legal action without the promised involvement of Cambridgeshire County Council.
The fact that James has now aligned himself with Cllr Lorna Durpe at East Cambs, who is part of the Administration and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group which leads Cambridgeshire County Council, and who let us down so badly on the Sunnica legal action is a strange decision on his part, to say the least.
It is hard not to take James’ decision personally, when we worked so hard to support his election campaign, tramping the streets delivering leaflets and knocking on doors. The people of Woodditton Ward voted for a Conservative candidate when they voted for James Lay and it is disappointing that he has deserted us and let residents down.
It has always been my view, when someone feels they can no longer be part of the Party that their residents voted for, that the honorable thing to do is to stand down and re-stand for election to check whether local residents still support you to represent them, but James Lay has not taken that path.
So the Council, now at “14 all”, has moved into no overall control, but with the Conservative Group holding the positions of Chairman, Leader and Deputy Leader, the administration of the Council remains the same. An Extraordinary Council meeting just before Christmas will consider the proportionality of Committees, so we will take it from there!
What is for sure, is that the votes of the residents of East Cambridgeshire in May 2023 remain on the record, and as Leader of the Council, together with my Conservative colleagues, I will continue to do all I can to deliver the promises we made in May 2023 when residents put their trust in us.
Wishing all readers and residents a very Happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year – my New Year’s resolution is to keep calm and carry on!
