Sevenoaks Council Leader Defeated

The Conservative leader of Sevenoaks District Council has lost a vote of "no confidence" tabled by former party colleagues.

The council is now expected to elect a new leader to replace Cllr Roddy Hogarth.

The vote took place on Thursday evening 16th October just after 8pm.

The vote for the motion of no confidence was 24 for, 15 against and 2 abstentions.

A large number of councillors - 13 - failed to attend the meeting.

The Conservatives lost overall control of the council in May when seven members resigned to form the West Kent Independents.

There have been calls for the resignation of leader Cllr Roddy Hogarth since the walk-out.

The Conservatives currently have 24 members, the Liberal Democrats 14, West Kent Independents 9, Green Party 4 and 3 other independents.

SIMON FINLAY of the Local Democracy Reporting Service writes on Friday 11.55am:

The embattled Conservative leader of a Kent council is today considering his position after losing a vote of confidence.

Cllr Roddy Hogarth said he would take his time to come to a decision after the Tory breakaway West Kent Independents (WKIs) movement’s motion was carried convincingly at Sevenoaks District Council last night (Oct 16).

Listen to Roddy Hogarth here:

The nine-strong WKIs left the Tory administration earlier this year after “losing faith” in Cllr Hogarth’s leadership, claiming he displays poor communication skills and failed to involve others in decision-making.

Listen to Julia Thornton of the West Kent Independents here:

The Liberal Democrat opposition leader Cllrs Alan Leaman, whose group backed the motion, said that the authority is now “almost ungovernable”.

But many of Cllr Hogarth’s supporters said he was a good leader who took an interest in all areas of the district.

The motion of no confidence was carried 24 votes to 15 with two abstentions.

After the meeting Cllr Hogarth, who this week offered to consider resigning if the WKIs returned to the Conservatives, said: “The vote…is advisory so I am going home and consider my position.

“I will take my time. I don’t think there was a great strength of feeling, but I do believe it was very orchestrated and political advantage being taken this evening, and I regret very much that the breakaway group decided they had to push this to the extent they did.

“Personally, I work cooperatively across all the political divides. We are a council, led by me, based on consensus, and we don’t actually want to have a lot of disagreeable fights – we want the business of the council done in the best interests of the residents. And that is what I hope to achieve.”

WKI councillor Julia Thornton, (pictured below) who tabled the motion of no confidence, said after the meeting: “It was to put the spotlight on the leadership that’s currently in place, as all the other attempts to put the spotlight on him in the past have failed."

Julia Thornton continued: “It’s not up to us to tell them what they should do about the leadership of their own group, but when they come up with that person then we will be looking to work with them going forward.

“There has been a lot of talk about personal vendettas and sour grapes, but that is absolutely not the case. Cllr Hogarth was voted in on a maintenance ticket but we’re facing a whole new kettle of fish as far as local government reorganisation is concerned.

“It was pretty key that we took some action now. We tried our hardest to do this behind closed doors…at heart, we are Conservative members.”

Cllr Alan Leaman, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition group, which sided with the WKIs, said he did not believe the leadership is providing the governance needed for the people of Sevenoaks.

He added: “What we have seen tonight is a Conservative split which was in private is very much in public; that the breakaway group has not resolved why they left the Conservative group and continue to cause trouble for the Conservatives.

“They are making this council almost ungovernable. It needs to be put right. All this bickering and personal animosity needs to stop and we will do what we can in achieving that aim.”