Rawlings returns after Tories abstain on leader vote

Labour will continue to run Barnet Council after their Conservative opponents chose to avoid potential deadlock at tonight’s annual meeting report David Floyd

Rows of people sitting in chairs behind desks, with a smaller group sitting at lecterns at the front of the room — Barnet councillors taking part in tonight’s leadership vote – (Credit – David Floyd)

It was a good night all round for the reds in North London as Barry Rawlings was reelected as leader of Barnet Council.

While not the matching the excitement caused by Arsenal securing the Premier League title, the Barnet Labour leader’s win was also secured after a tense build up, due to the possibility that the split council might fail to elect a leader at all.

As it turned out, while Green councillor Charli Thompson voted against the nominations of both Rawlings and Conservative leader Peter Zinkin, the Tories abstained on the vote for Rawlings’ nomination, enabling him to be returned as leader for a second term by 31 votes to one.

In a statement issued after the vote, Barnet Labour said that it had “pledged to continue to be ambitious for the borough”.

Cllr Rawlings said: “In difficult national circumstances it is an honour to have been returned for a second term. We will build on the successes of our first term – from action on fly-tipping and revamping the borough’s CCTV, to securing new social housing and becoming a borough of sanctuary.”

He added: “Barnet residents voted for a moderate, responsible council which brings people together for the greater good. That is the spirit in which we will govern.”

For their part, the Conservatives focused on the fact that Labour had lost the popular vote, while noting that the council’s voting arrangement gave them no route to secure the leadership, despite having the same number of seats as Labour.

They said: “In the interests of residents and to ensure the council had stable leadership, we made clear that if our nomination for leader was defeated, we would not block an alternative appointment. Councillors’ primary duty is to serve the best interests of residents, not to engage in political games that risk instability and disruption to local services.”

Referencing agreements between the two parties that have been negotiated since the election they explained: “While we will not form the next administration, we have secured a strong opposition position from which we can robustly hold Labour to account. To reflect the new political balance, both groups have agreed a set of working principles, facilitated by the chief executive and monitoring officer.”

They added: “Under this arrangement, Conservatives will have a voice at cabinet and chair key scrutiny committees, including those overseeing council finances and environmental policy. This will enable us to challenge the administration effectively on the issues that matter most: responsible spending, service delivery, and infrastructure.”

However, the changes to the borough’s governance model were criticised by Cllr Thompson for the Greens, who noted that she had been excluded from the process saying that the changes “appear to have been agreed by the major parties behind closed doors”.

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