The first full meeting of the new Cornwall Council

The first full meeting of Cornwall Council took place today and Independent councillor John Pollard (above) from Hayle was elected leader of the authority. He will lead a joint Independent and Liberal Democrat Cabinet of ten members, split equally between the two groups.

There were discussions between the Conservative, Independent and Liberal Democrat groups about the possibility of a “rainbow” or “one and all” administration. These negotiations were not necessarily as reported in the press, and ended up being quite fractious.

Last week, the Independents and Liberal Democrats offered the Conservatives two seats on the Cabinet, which were not accepted. Late in the week, the Independents and Liberal Democrats then offered these two remaining places to Labour and MK, in what appeared to be an effort to have a broader Executive.

The offer was made at about 4.00 on Friday, with a request to consider the option over the ensuing weekend. But unfortunately, within an hour, it was being misreported in the local media that a deal had actually already been done.

This was not the case. The Labour group declined the offer which meant that a wider administration was not possible, and at a meeting of the MK group on Sunday, we decided that it would not be appropriate to seek MK representation on an Executive containing only two other groups.

The MK group has prepared a statement about the new administration and our approach to Cornwall Council over the next four years. The statement is as follows:

“The Mebyon Kernow group is disappointed that the three main groups on the Council (Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Independent) were unable to agree an administration, that would have been able to work collectively for the betterment of Cornwall.

“From an MK perspective, this could have meant the whole council coming together to challenge the disproportionate level of central government cuts to local government, in general, and to Cornwall Council, in particular.

“In these difficult times, it remains our view that all groups on the authority must work together constructively. It cannot be right to put political self-interest ahead of what is best for Cornwall.

“Though we will not be part of the Independent / Liberal Democrat administration, the MK councillors on Cornwall Council are committed to working with one and all, to seek a better deal for our communities.

“We look forward to engaging positively with the administration on a range of issues and on policy development and to ensure greater transparency in decision-making.”

Well done Cornwall

This weekend, it was great to take a break from viewing the political shenanigans at County Hall.

I was delighted to be one of the three thousand people at the Recreation Ground in Camborne, watching Cornwall beat Hertfordshire by 41 points to 29 to secure a place in this weekend’s Twickenham final.  

The players were magnificent and played their hearts out.

As a supporter of Redruth, the sixth and final try was truly amazing with the move involving five Reds.

Scrum-half Greg Goodfellow rifled the ball out to Lock Damian Cook who flew down the wing, before throwing it back inside to prop Craig Williams who in turn passed to the other prop Darren Jacques. With a powerful turn of speed, Darren almost made it to the try-line, where Redruth flyhalf was on hand to dive over to score.

To see great photographs, such as the one above, visit the Cornish rugby updates page on Facebook.

Well done lads. And roll on Twickenham. 

Mayor, Mayor and Deputy Mayor

Well done to Mike Champion, Phil Rendle (above) and Andrew Long.

Mike was tonight chosen as the new Mayor for Camborne, only days after Phil was re-elected unopposed as the Mayor for Penzance and Andrew was chosen as the Deputy Mayor of Callington.

It is really great to see respected MK members being elected to serve their local communities in such prominent roles. Well done guys.

Western Greyhound

It has been a difficult week in St Enoder Parish with the devastating arson attack

on the Western Greyhound depot in Summercourt, which destroyed over 35 buses.

It is a relief that no-one was hurt in the attack and I hope that the Police will be able to identify and take strong action against the individuals or individuals who were responsible for the fire.

The damage was truly horrific and Western Greyhound are to be commended for getting so many buses out to serve the communities of Cornwall in such a short time after the fire.

I am grateful to Mark Howarth, the owner of Western Greyhound, for keeping me informed about the progress on the site, as well as those local residents who have contacted me with information about the incident.

First day back at County Hall

Today, I attended the first induction day for new (and returning) councillors at Cornwall Council. The four MK councillors are pictured above.

All the political groups had their first formal group meetings and “negotiations” have commenced as to the make-up of the next administration.

The view of the MK group is clear. We believe that all of the main groups should be represented on the governing Cabinet. But it remains to be seen whether the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats put political self-interest to one side and work together with each other, and the other groups, for the betterment of Cornwall.