Lib Dems take Wiltshire Council in tense series of votes

By Local Democracy Reporter Peter Davison

Wiltshire Council is now under the control of the Liberal Democrats.

Following a nail-biting election count on 2nd May, there was more intrigue and excitement on Tuesday 20th May when Cllr Ian Thorn was very narrowly elected leader of the council.

He and his cabinet of Lib Dems and one Independent will lead the council for the next four years.

It’s the first time that Wiltshire Council, as a unitary authority, has been controlled by any party other than the Conservatives. And you’d need to go back to 1997 to find the old Wiltshire County Council under Lib Dem control.

The Lib Dems came out of the local council election with the largest number of seats and having won the popular vote. But they did not win enough seats to form a majority, and it seems likely that deals have been done with the council’s seven Independents, and maybe Labour’s one remaining councillor, to get them across the line.

Victory for the Lib Dems did not always seem certain. The first ballot of the day was to elect the new council chairman. Normally, this is a largely ceremonial role. But we are living in unusual times, and both main parties knew that whoever had the chair had the vital casting vote.

And it didn’t take long for that casting vote to show its potential.

After the Lib Dems called for a secret ballot – rather than a public show of hands – voting slips had to be counted three times, as the number of votes cast did not tally with the number of voting slips issued.

The errant slip was finally located stuck to the side of the ballot box. The results were 48 votes for Lib Dem Ruth Hopkinson, 48 votes for Conservative Laura Mayes, and one abstention.

With a tie declared, the casting vote went to outgoing chairman Bridget Wayman, the Conservative councillor who held the position in the last administration, and whose final job was to oversee the election of a new chairman.

She was forced to make a call, voting for her Tory colleague. Cllr Mayes admitted that she had “not been expecting” to win.

Ruth Hopkinson came back to fight Conservative Christopher Newbury for the position of vice chairman – a second secret ballot, and a vote the Lib Dems won 49 to 46, with two abstentions.

Next, was the all-important appointment of leader. Again, the Lib Dems called for a secret ballot. Unsurprisingly, the two nominations were for Lib Dem leader Ian Thorn and Conservative leader Richard Clewer.

The names on the voting slips were read out in public, pole position shifting often. At one point it looked like the Conservatives had taken it, but the deck was badly shuffled and the Lib Dems’ cards were all drawn at the end. The final tally: 50 votes for Ian Thorn, 45 for Richard Clewer, and two abstentions.

Cllr Thorn acknowledged that the vote had been incredibly close. “I’m very aware of the election maths,” he said. “It’s a good thing. It will force us to work across the chamber.”

He also thanked and reassured council staff, telling them, “we’ve got your backs.”

And he had a message for the people of Wiltshire: “We are here, collectively, for you, to make the county a great place to live, work, and visit.”

After the meeting, Richard Clewer said he would work with the Lib Dems, but warned: “It’s going to be a tough four years.”

Pictured: Wiltshire Council’s new leader Cllr Ian Thorn