Council leader: “We need to be honest about challenges we face”

Seacombe Labour councillor Paul Stuart was decisively elected leader of the council at a fiery meeting on May 24. This is after he challenged former leader Cllr Janette Williamson for the role just after the recent local elections.

He becomes leader as the local authority is expected to make £35m in cuts over the next four years with an expected £12m in savings needed next year. This comes as Wirral Council continues to make progress since it was slammed for its decision making and financial management in 2021.

In his first interview since becoming leader, Cllr Stuart said he put himself forward to give councillors a choice and “create stability in some way from a leadership point of view for the four years ahead.”

He added: “I just felt I just wanted to give it a shot. All positions are up for availability and I was asked to consider going for it. There was no personal attack on anybody and it was just if people wanted to vote for me, they could. I had no hidden agenda, nothing like that

“We went into the all outs. There was a massive change in the way the council’s structured going forward so I just felt if there was going to be any change, now was the time to have that change.”

When asked whether he thought Labour needed to change how it approaches issues and have a change in leadership, Cllr Stuart declined to comment on “internal party political stuff.”

Going forward given the cuts the council is likely to make, Cllr Stuart said: “We need to be honest with our residents about the challenges we face and I think we’ve got a good opportunity to navigate our way to a better future in Wirral whilst taking those difficult decisions.

“We need to be able to deliver our council services within the means of a legal budget whilst trying our best to prioritise the needs of residents.”

Cllr Stuart said social injustice was the reason why he entered politics, adding: “I had the benefit of the social security net and the NHS during a period of quite turbulent health for myself and I can see the value that that can have. It’s a cradle that can give you a helping hand to get back onto your feet.

“The combination of the two which are the core values of Labour and got me through a very difficult time in my life.”

Cllr Stuart’s nomination for leader was not without controversy as he was challenged by Cllr Pat Cleary who lost. The Greens had previously issued a statement saying Cllr Stuart was a “clear threat to Wirral’s public services and its environment”

Cllr Stuart said: “I am 100% up for negotiations and repairing the relationships. I think unfortunately the Green Party just decided, ill advised in my opinion, that they were going to put out a damning statement about my leadership of the Labour group and they did that as soon as they found out.

“That was before any negotiations had started so that kind of set the tone of where the negotiations may have gone.”

The Greens also accused Labour of entering a “coalition of power” with the Conservatives and ignoring Green Party voters at the recent elections. Cllr Jo Bird also pointed to Labour’s “Vote Green Get Blue” campaign that suggested the Greens could hand Wirral to the Conservatives

She said: “Labour are not what it says on the tin. You vote Labour, you get a Labour-Conservative coalition.”

Cllr Stuart disagreed, adding: “The Lib Dems also voted for that makeup of the council. We’ve made it perfectly clear from the start we are not in any coalition with anybody or supplying confidence.

He said the allocation of chairs was not required to be proportional in the council’s constitution but committee membership, which is, was fully proportional.

He added: “We need to find a way in a hung council we can be able to run the council in a fiscally sensible way rather than a combative style though I appreciate it ended up like that at full council. It didn’t have to end up like that.”

In recent days, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also announced plans to relax planning regulations including some building on the greenbelt.

Greenbelt issues were a key issue in the election campaign as the council’s Local Plan is under scrutiny and the comments from Mr Starmer have drawn criticism from Wirral Conservatives.

Cllr Stuart confirmed Labour “are 100% brownfield first” and criticised the controversial Leverhulme appeals being allowed to take place before the Local Plan hearings are finished.

He added: “The council and the leadership have written to the Minister (Michael Gove) and we will be pushing for a response on that.

“We asked the government minister to call the decision before the inspector announces their decision so that the minister makes that decision. Be under no illusions that I personally and the Labour group’s position is 100% brownfield first.

“Going brownfield first has far more opportunities for those neglected areas that have historically not had investment.

“It makes absolute logical sense while protecting what is one of Wirral’s greatest assets, which is the greenbelt. We were commonly referred to as a leisure peninsula in the past, so 100% a brownfield first policy and no building on the greenbelt in Wirral.”