Oldham fails to choose new Mayor

Oldham council is still locked in a chaotic battle over its next leader after nearly five hours of talks failed to break a stand-off.

During a crucial meeting, Reform leader Coun Lewis Quigg said the public ‘will look at this today and think we are a shambles’.

Ahead of a meeting today (May 20,) only Coun Kamran Ghafoor, the leader of the Oldham Group, was put forward to lead the council after both Labour and Reform ruled out forming an administration. The political stalemate follows the local elections earlier this month, in which Labour lost eight seats.

After those elections, Coun Arooj Shah said: “While Labour remains marginally the largest single party, we have to take not that the results across the borough clearly showed support for the other parties”, adding: “It is now for those parties to put forward proposals for how they intend to run Oldham Council, reflecting the mandate they have received from voters.”

However the move has plunged the local authority into political crisis with even talk of outside intervention. Before the meeting, Labour had tabled an amendment opposing Coun Ghafoor’s nomination but councillors never got around to voting on who should be their next leader.

Minutes into the meeting, three nominations for the borough’s new mayor – a ceremonial role which chairs full council meetings – all failed to secure enough support in the chamber.

Without a new mayor, there was no way for the meeting to go ahead legally. So councillors were sent out. What followed was hours of discussions back and forth with talk of a possible voting solution to break the deadlock.

It’s understood a different voting system had been put forward in the discussions but no agreement was reached on this.

No agreement could be reached on a way forward meaning a majority decision was made to postpone the meeting to a later date.

That has left the council with no mayor, leader, or cabinet as well as appointments to key committees like planning and licensing which the council has to legally carry out.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been approached to explain what could happen in Oldham if no one is elected Mayor, leader, or appointed to these key positions in the next few weeks.

Even elected members’ decision to postpone the meeting did not get unanimous support with Reform opposing the move. Their leader Coun Lewis Quigg said councillors ‘have had a vast amount of time discussing the ins and outs’ and the public ‘will look at this today and think we are a shambles and they rightly should knock our heads together on this’.

He claims they had also put solutions forward but these had not been supported, adding: “It’s up to you whether we adjourn this meeting today and come back whenever it’s reconvened or you can take votes from the floor now and decide one by one who you are going to rule out so we actually consent on somebody who we think is the right choice.”

Coun Ghafoor’s bid to take over the council had been supported by the borough’s Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, and some independents. The alliance committed to fair funding across the borough, more scrutiny and transparency, a review of council finances, and full cooperation with the national inquiry into child sexual exploitation.

Before the meeting, Liberal Democrat boss Coun Sam Al-Hamdani said the alliance was ‘a loose agreement on a series of priorities’ to avoid the government stepping in. He told the LDRS: “What we are trying to do is express a commitment to actually try and put a leadership in place.

“It is an absolute abdication of responsibility. It is [Labour and Reform’s] responsibility to ensure there is a stable administration in Oldham.”

The deadlock has come about as a result of a decision by the Labour Party to step back from leading the council following recent election losses despite still being the largest party. An amendment put forward by Labour’s Couns Elaine Taylor and Graham Shuttleworth had called for the government to intervene.

The Labour councillors claimed they ‘will not stand in the way of any serious attempt to form a stable, lawful and functioning administration’ but ‘would not seek to work with any group who led divisive campaigns based on identity and grievance politics’. Labour also opposed the nomination of Coun Ghafoor as leader due to ongoing investigations into the collapse of a building he owns on King Street. 

Coun Ghafoor however told the LDRS he is not being investigated personally, adding: “It’s just a political ploy to not want to make a decision and take responsibility.” He also said Labour’s claims about the Oldham Group were untrue and they were ‘here for the whole of Oldham not just a specific group of people’.