Posted: Tue 27th Oct 2020

Bitter row erupts after ‘bingo machine’ used to decide top Conwy Council chair role

North Wales news and information
This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Oct 27th, 2020

A “bingo machine” was used to decide who would take up a top council chair role and the fall-out has sparked a bitter row.

Councillor Penny Andow, lost her £8,700 a-year chair post on the social care and health scrutiny committee to her Conwy County Council Labour Party group leader Chris Hughes in the most unconventional way earlier this month.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands Cllr Hughes told his Labour colleagues in Zoom meetings that extra cash was one of the reasons he wanted the committee chair and that he “might need to visit a food bank” if he didn’t win.

Cllr Andow, a former lecturer in health and social care, had held the job for three years  but she had to go head-to-head against Cllr Hughes, despite her superior experience in the field.

The vote was tied and after Welsh Labour bosses in Cardiff suggested a “virtual coin toss”, a random number generator, like those used for calling bingo, was chosen to settle the outcome.

Cllr Andow, who represents Llanfairfechan, lost the chair after opting for an even number.

But the vote and the circumstances leading up to it have caused a bitter split which saw two councillors quit the eight-strong Labour cohort.

Cllr Andow said: “If it wasn’t so awful, it would be a sitcom. I was in a real state.

“I’m sure the Labour voters who voted me in would not think a bingo machine was democracy.”

Cllr Hughes told the LDRS he made “a crass comment” which he “immediately regretted” in relation to food banks but that it would be “naive in the extreme” to think “financial reward” did not play a part in applying for the committee post.

The row led to a split in the Labour group that saw two of its longest serving members leave the eight-strong cohort.

Councillors collect a members’ basic allowance of £14,218, with scrutiny committee chairs receiving a top-up which takes their pay to £23,000 a-year.

Cllr Hughes had said previously that the extra £8,700 a-year post holders receive played no part in his bid to become committee chair.

Two Labour group members were denied a vote, because of unpaid subs.

Cllr Andow is still angry at the loss of the chair: “Chris Hughes said if he didn’t get the post he ‘might be forced to use a food bank’ himself.

“I had done the job, people had told me I’d done a good job and Cllr Chris Hughes wasn’t even on that committee.”

The bingo machine casting vote took place in a video meeting set up between her, Cllr Hughes, group treasurer Cllr Andrew Hinchliff and a Labour party official.

She said: “I chose even, he generated a number and it was odd. He said ‘chair goes to Chris Hughes’.”

Two long-serving Labour councillors, former council leader Ronnie Hughes and Mike Priestley, resigned the party whip over the removal of Cllr Andow.

They now sit as independents on Conwy county council – although both want to remain Welsh Labour members.

In a joint statement Cllr Ronnie Hughes and Cllr Mike Priestley said: “We were at a Zoom meeting where Cllr Chris Hughes expressed a wish to go for the position of chair of the social care and health scrutiny committee.

“He talked about his financial situation as one of the reasons for going for the position.”

Another Labour councillor resigned from the social care and health scrutiny committee after the vote.

The removal of Cllr Andow also brought condemnation from political rivals, with Conservative councillor Harry Saville accusing Cllr Chris Hughes of “awarding himself a pay rise”.

Cllr Andow said she’s received “overwhelming support” from across the political divide, including offers to join rival parties.

She said: “My community voted me in as Welsh Labour and I can’t change horses towards the end.

“I will hang on in there for Welsh Labour but I won’t be attending any Zoom meetings with Chris Hughes.”

Cllr Andow called on him to resign as the council’s Labour group leader.

She said: “We need a new group leader, someone with drive and direction. He’s got nothing to offer.

“If I’m pushed out of the Labour Party I will still work for my community.”

A Welsh Labour spokesman said: “We do not comment on the internal workings of Labour groups.”

Cllr Chris Hughes told the LDRS the vote had been carried out under the auspices of Welsh Labour and in accordance with its rules.

He said he doesn’t claim travelling expenses, nor extra responsibility allowances in his additional role as a Colwyn Bay town councillor.

He added: “It would be naive in the extreme to think financial reward does not play a part when considering whether or not to apply for, or to accept, the nomination for any position.

“At the meeting mentioned by Cllrs Hughes and Priestley I did not ask to be considered for the scrutiny chair role, a group member asked if I was interested and I responded saying ‘If nominated I would not turn it down’ –  and yes I did say ‘I could certainly do with the extra money’.

“The process was overseen by the Welsh Labour Party, who reviewed the process before declaring the result a tie.

“Labour Party staff then proceeded to organise a tie breaker event, which was carried out on Zoom in the presence of both candidates and the Labour Group secretary as a witness.”

Cllr Hughes said it was “drawn to my attention” three members hadn’t paid their subs before the vote and one of them, Cllr Andow, paid up to date so she could take part in the poll.

He added: “At one of the meetings I did make a crass comment about food banks which I immediately regretted and for which I apologise – food banks are an important lifeline for many families.”

By Jez Hemming – Local Democracy Reporter



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