'Concerned' rival hits out at Reform UK's plans for Kirklees Council cabinet
The Green Party group leader has hit back at Reform’s plans for an “all Reform” cabinet, after narrowly losing the leadership position.
After being locked in an almost two-month-long stalemate, Green Party group leader, Councillor Andrew Cooper, lost the leadership contest by a narrow six votes to Reform’s group leader, Sarah Wood.
During a secret ballot, Coun Wood took the win with 36 votes in favour, 30 against, and one abstention. Her opponent – Coun Cooper – fell short at 30 votes in favour, 36 against, and also shared one abstention.
However, in interviews following Reform’s success, Coun Cooper spoke of his “concern” after Coun Wood revealed that Reform intended to have an “all-Reform” cabinet.
He said: “It’s positive that the council has a leader; it had dragged on far too long, and we needed that to happen.”
The comments came after Coun Cooper made pleas inside the council chamber, prior to the secret ballot, to end the “sorry saga”.
Yet, when asked about the Reform’s intentions for the cabinet, Coun Cooper admitted he had reservations about the party being “over-represented”.
Coun Cooper said: “It’s within the leader’s gift to decide the cabinet… 70 per cent of people did not want Reform and now they have 100 per cent of the power of decision making in Kirklees.
“It is a big concern that 70 per cent of the electorate will not be taken into account. A lot of this stuff will happen behind closed doors.”
Speaking on her win, Coun Wood said: “I am going to honour my commitment to what (Kirklees) wants and what (Kirklees) needs.
“It will only be a Reform cabinet… We have people lined up in the cabinet, all with immense experience and well-suited to the roles. I will announce them in due course.”