10:30am Tuesday 23rd February 2010
By David Connop Price
A FORMER mayor has given his view on the bitter row about who should become Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane in May.
Criss Connor, who was town mayor in 1975-76, says he will not back any “dummy mayor” put in place for political reasons.
Instead, he is backing his former political adversary Phil Heath to take up the chain of office.
Mr Connor said: “The mayor in this town has always been outside the political arena. The mayor is the representative of the Queen in this town.
“This is bringing politics into the Royal Family – totally unacceptable.”
Mr Connor spoke out after Councillor Heath was shockingly voted down from automatic elevation to mayor, having served as deputy mayor since May last year. Cllr Heath became the first deputy in living memory to fail to be made mayor.
The move, on February 11, broke with long-established convention of appointing solely on the basis of who has the longest period of continuous service. It is also alleged to have broken with the borough’s constitution.
Mr Connor, a former Labour councillor, said councillors who appeared to be acting for their own benefit risked alienating the public.
He said he had supported every mayor since his year in office regardless of what party they came from, but added: “I will not be supporting a dummy mayor who is there for political reasons.”
Conservative group leader Mark Ruffell led opposition to Cllr Heath becoming mayor saying he could not overlook four complaints made to the standards committee about him.
But Mr Connor warned that the vote against Cllr Heath had put pressure on the independent standards committee to uphold the complaints, which are still being investigated.
He said Cllr Heath, an ex-Conservative group leader who was expelled from the Conservative party and now represents Basingstoke First Community Party, would make a good mayor, adding: “He would have been outspoken, but what’s wrong with that?”
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