IT MAY have been a taste of things to come or it could have been a one-off. However, one thing is certain. Would-be mayor Councillor Phil Heath has finally got to chair a full council meeting.

In another twist in the long-running saga of whether Councillor Phil Heath will become borough mayor, the deputy mayor fulfilled one of the first citizen’s principal jobs and chaired the final part of an adjourned Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council meeting, because current mayor Cllr Brian Gurden was absent.

Conservative group leader Cllr Mark Ruffell has questioned whether it is appropriate for Cllr Heath to become mayor for 2010-11 because he is facing a standards inquiry into a series of alleged councillors’ code of conduct breaches. Twenty six of the ruling Conservative group have agreed with their leader and have ignored the council’s seniority principle to put Tory colleague Cllr Keith Chapman in prime position to become mayor.

The final hour of the full council meeting, with Cllr Heath in the chair, proceeded without incident. The meeting had been adjourned following a fractious four-and-a-half hours inside and outside the council chamber on April 1, when Cllr Gurden was in the chair.

On April 1, after Salvation Army captain Fred Eardley gave a sobering report of his work in earthquake-stricken Haiti, the squabbling that followed over how the council chooses its new mayor may have seemed petty.

But, with the mayoral election saga causing confusion about the rulebook by which local government in Basingstoke and Deane operates, passions ran high.

Councillors had been told a 1984 council decision requiring all mayoral candidates to be proposed and seconded by members of different parties was not binding. Labour councillors moved to ensure it was. Cllr Paul Harvey said he was “shocked” to discover council motions were not binding. He said: “It brings into question what is the purpose of this council in the first place.”

But Conservative Cllr Clive Sanders called the 1984 decision undemocratic, saying: “It would allow any minority party to subvert the will of the majority.”

In a barnstorming final appearance in the council chamber, retiring Cllr Harry Robinson left his party Conservative colleagues red-faced.

The former deputy council leader said he “shuddered in fear” at the idea of those in charge being able to change council rules.

He said: “The will of the majority in selecting the mayor? That’s the first indication I have had that the appointment of the mayor is a political appointment.”

He added: “We are being dragged through the mud over the last few weeks by stupid arrogant shepherds leading blind sheep.”

After an hour of debate in the chamber and an hour of behind-the-scenes discussion, Labour withdrew its motion after discovering it would not achieve their objective.

The Conservatives then blocked a joint move by Basingstoke Community Party councillor Christine Heath, the deputy mayor’s wife and fellow party member, and Cllr Robinson to reinstate the seniority principle.

Liberal Democrats argued the mayoral election should be a straight choice between Cllr Heath and Cllr Chapman, rather than giving the latter priority. Cllr Gavin James said: “This council could not organise an election in a council chamber.” But the Conservatives blocked that proposal.

The majority Conservatives did vote through council chief executive Tony Curtis’ paper recommending reversing planned meeting dates so the meeting selecting committee chairman – and this year the mayor – will be brought forward to May 13 and the mayor-making ceremony will be pushed back to May 20.