Wellingborough Council leader faces vote of no confidence over bullying accusations

Wellingborough Council leader Martin Griffiths is facing a vote of no confidence by his own political colleagues.

A motion of no confidence brought by Cllr Robert Gough and Cllr Martyn York and signed by another six councillors has been submitted to the Wellingborough Conservative Group in a bid to end the reign of the long-standing leader.

The letter says: “There are a number of issues that have led to this motion. This has given us reason to believe that the actions of Cllr Griffiths have brought the council and party into disrepute and could damage the reputation of both the Conservative Party, and the Borough Council of Wellingborough.”

In a bullet pointed list his colleagues allege behaviour such as bullying, using his position to intimidate others, making defamatory and offensive remarks and pre-empting council committee decisions.

The letter, which has been signed by Cllr Jon Ekins, Cllr Malcom Waters, Cllr Veronica Waters, Cllr Jennie Bone, Cllr Sarah Scanlon and Cllr Clive Hallam also says Cllr Griffiths has not abided by the seven Nolan principles, the code of conduct for figures in public life.

In a statement given today to the Local Democracy Reporting Service Cllr Griffiths said: “I have been a Conservative councillor since 2007 and the unopposed leader of the Borough Council of Wellingborough since 2016. Unlike some of those who instigated this vote of no confidence I have never had a code of conduct issue against me and have an impeccable and unblemished record of public service.

“All elected members at this very challenging time should be focused on responding to the current crisis by supporting their residents, the vulnerable and local businesses rather than being distracted by internal member grievances.

“This matter will be dealt with under my group and party’s well established rules and protocols and as soon as we can hold a group meeting we will do. I am confident that my group will find that I have no case to answer whatsoever. In the meantime I will get on with working hard to deliver outcomes and services for the people of Wellingborough and north Northamptonshire in the months ahead, and through this extremely challenging times.”

The no confidence motion comes just days before the authority is due to elect its leader at its first ever virtual annual council meeting on Tuesday (May 28).

The Wellingborough Conservative Group is the ruling group on the authority and has 26 elected councillors compared to Labour’s nine.

It is expected an extraordinary meeting of the Wellingborough Conservative Group will be held in coming days and all 26 councillors will vote on whether they want to keep Cllr Griffiths as leader of the local party.

It is understood the rebel group will need 14 councillors to vote against Cllr Griffiths to depose him. Another leader of the Conservative group would then be elected.

This is the second time in two years a Northamptonshire Conservative group has held a vote of no confidence in its leader. Cllr Heather Smith was ousted as leader of Northamptonshire County Council in the wake of its financial collapse.

Cllr Griffiths, who represents Brickhill ward and is also a county councillor, has been the leader since 2016, when he took over from Cllr Paul Bell.

He is due to be deputy leader of the new shadow north unitary authority and has been heavily involved in the setting up of the new council, which is set to begin providing services next April.