Council leader to be replaced after Labour’s national bosses intervene
‘I have been knifed in the back’
THE Leader of Sandwell Council is set to be forced out of his job after claiming he had been “knifed in the back”.
Cllr Steve Eling, who is the subject of an investigation by the Labour party following a complaint, will be replaced at the next full council meeting of the authority, it has been revealed.
At a private meeting on Monday, the new leader of Sandwell’s local Labour group was named as Cllr Steve Trow.
The Old Warley councillor won the vote in a straight run-off with Langley member Yvonne Davies.
He beat his opponent by
37-27 votes in the election brought about the suspension of Cllr Eling’s party membership.
Cllr Eling has said the move to replace him as leader of the authority was a ‘knife in the back’ and was forced by the party at a national level.
Cllr Trow, cabinet member for culture and core council services, said the vote to select him as the new council leader would see a continuation of the party’s management of the authority.
He said: “The point is we are succeeding quite well, certainly compared to a number of other authorities. We have a half a billion pounds plan to improve housing through refurbishment and building new homes.
“We still have all our libraries open and we have a balanced budget for next year.”
He added: “So there are no immediate convulsions intended or needed.”
Cllr Eling originally said he would continue to serve as leader of the council until he received advice from Labour’s National Executive Committee, which had suspended his membership while it investigates an undisclosed complaint against him.
While welcoming Cllr Trow’s election, he said the change in council leadership had been forced on Sandwell’s Labour councillors by the national party.
Cllr Eling said: “There is nothing to I can do to contest this. It has been forced on us by headquarters. I am raising doesn’t locally.
“I will be discussing with Steve Trow and other colleagues about how we move forward from here, given the dictate from party centrally.
“From the point of view of moving forward, I don’t want to derail things for the benefit of the people of Sandwell.”
He added he had been given no information as to the nature and details of the complaint against him.
He added: “I have been knifed in the back but that sort of thing happens in politics.”
A motion to elect a new council leader will be put at the council’s full council meeting on March 5. issues alter about this but it what is happening