Following the earlier resignations of the Isle of Wight council leader and deputy leader earlier today, another resignation from the the Executive has come to light.
Gordon Kendall, who was recently elevated back onto the executive with responsibility for Highways PFI Contract and the Waste Management contract has today announced his resignation from the Executive.
Kendall: “Not prepared to do the government’s dirty work”
He told OnTheWight,
“I joined the team a few weeks back to support the leadership – the management team I signed up to support are no longer in place, so it’s a logical for me to step down.
“I support reasons given by the Jonathan and Steve when they resigned – I’m not prepared to do the government’s dirty work for them.”
Labour: Appalled at former leader and deputy
On the resignations of the leader and deputy leader, as lead Labour councillor, Geoff Lumley told OnTheWight,
“I am frankly appalled that the two of them have decided to stand down with barely three months to the Council elections. Balancing the Budget has never been easy since 2010, but it can always be done with some imagination.
“We don’t see Labour Council leaders standing down elsewhere, do we?
“They stay in place because that is what they were elected to do – balance the books, but at the same time do their best to protect services to vulnerable people.”
An “abdication of responsibility”
He went on to say,
“This abdication of responsibility on top of the other recent departures from the Executive (Jordan, Stephens, Kendall – just learnt of) seems to have ended the ‘independent experiment’.
“Islanders will have a clear choice next May between the slash and burn Conservative option or anti-austerity candidates from the Labour party, who wouldn’t resign if they felt a job was too hard.”
Proposing a new leader
Cllr Julia Baker-Smith on behalf of Executive Members of The Island Independent Group, said
“The Island Independent Group will continue to face the challenges with regard to taking forward this Island and fighting against the savage cuts coming from Central Government both for the Council or the NHS.
“We will be proposing a new Leader of the Council from the Independent Group at Full Council on Wednesday, whose primary goal will be to protect the most vulnerable people in our community from the effects of repeated Government cuts.
“We would like to thank Cllr Bacon and Cllr Stubbings for their extremely hard work and dedication over the last four years. They have worked tirelessly, in the face extreme adversity, and leave the Isle of Wight Council in a far better position than it was in in 2013.”
UKIP respond
OnTheWight asked the other IWC party leaders for their comment on today’s resignations. Cllr. Daryll Pitcher, UKIP Group Leader of the Isle of Wight Council, sent us what’s below. We’ve yet to hear back from Dave Stewart of the Conservatives.
“Like many we are surprised by the sudden decision of Cllrs Bacon, Stubbins and Kendall to resign their positions at this time. Surprised but not shocked. It has been our knowledge for some while that there were problems for them. The comment from Cllr Stubbins to last Thursday’s Executive Meeting when he stated “This will be the last Executive I will probably ever Chair” can now be seen in its full context. It is possible that he already knew the game was up.
“With these resignations The Isle of Wight Council now finds itself in a very difficult position. We are only a few months from elections and there is a budget likely filled with bad news to set before then. We in UKIP see it as our duty to try and ensure the Council functions properly between now and May, we believe all Islanders expect and deserve this effort from us. It will not be an easy task and we would urge reasonable patience across the Island and cool heads across the Chamber.
“UKIP are prepared to work with anyone and everyone to help the Isle of Wight Council get through the budget and on to May. The most important thing now is for the Island to have a functioning Administration and we hope this can be achieved at Full Council on Wednesday. This is the time for Councillors to step up and show that they are prepared to do the hard work when the Island needs them the most. It is not the time for party political bickering.”
Update: 17:53 Added words from Daryll Pitcher.
