Council leader facing a no-confidence vote
Sunderland City Council faces being plunged into chaos just weeks before it goes to the polls after a challenge against leader Graeme Miller.
The latest round of local elections for England is scheduled for May 5, when the top boss of Wearside’s local authority will be on ballot papers intheWashingtonSouthward.
But a no confidence motion tabled by the opposition Conservative group and due to be heard next week means he could already have been ousted from one of the North East’s biggestpoliticalhotseatsbythe time voters mark their choice.
Despite this, Cllr Miller, who has been in charge since 2018, remains bullish.
“I’venothingatalltosay,”he replied when contacted by the Echo,“I’mabsolutelyconfident about it.
“It’sjusttoallowtheoppositioncouncillorsfiveminutesto have a go at me - it’s politics in its worst form.”
WhileCllrMiller,firstelected to the city council in 2006, could be deposed by a vote at the next meeting of the full local authority on Wednesday (March23),theattemptedcoup is unlikely to succeed without at least some support from his own ruling Labour group.
TheTories’19seatsaccount for just a quarter of the council chamber, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 12 and a lone independent, compared to Labour’s majority of 43.
But Conservative opposition leader Antony Mullen believes there is still a chance
to inflict a bloody nose before polling day, although he also admits rules limiting the length of time council meetings can last could also scupper his plans.
He said: “This is the final opportunity for the critics of Graeme Miller within the Labour Party to get rid of him before the public does.
“In a sense it is the Labour Party indicating to the public whether they are Millerites or not.”
At the time of writing, the Lib Dems were yet to decide on their approach to the vote, but group leader Niall Hodson claimedhewas“abitbemused” by the move.