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13
Jun 2023
Power share bid fails at Harrogate and Knaresborough council committee
A bid to share the leadership of a North Yorkshire Council committee in Harrogate and Knaresborough has failed.
Conservatives sitting on the Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee had proposed a shared chairmanship between their councillor, Paul Haslam, and Liberal Democrat Pat Marsh.
Cllr Sam Gibbs, Conservative representative of Valley Gardens and Central Harrogate, said:
The proposal caused some confusion, with the council's democratic services manager Daniel Harry saying no other committee had had two chairmen before on an NYC committee or at North Yorkshire County Council before it.
However, he said there was no legal reason it could not happen, as long as the terms were clear, such as chairing alternate meetings.
Cllr Arnold Warneken, who is not a committee member but attends the meetings as Green party councillor for Ouseburn, said:
Cllr Pat Marsh, who represents the Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone division and was leader of the Liberal Democrats in opposition at Harrogate Borough Council, responded:
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Committee members were then asked to vote on whether the post should be shared. The five Conservatives all voted in favour, but were defeated by the seven Liberal Democrats who opposed the plan.
Instead, Pat Marsh was elected as chairman with seven votes in favour and five abstentions.
A bid for Cllr Haslam to be elected as vice chairman was also defeated by six votes to five with one abstention. Cllr Monika Slater, the Lib Dem representative of Bilton Grange and New Park, was chosen instead by seven votes in favour to none against and five abstentions.
Cllr Marsh is also chair of the planning committee for the area, where Cllr Haslam is vice chairman. Three other Liberal Democrats and two further Conservatives also sit on that committee.
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