Peterborough City Council: What led to a vote of no confidence?

Accusations that a council leader and his administration have launched "political attacks" and "weaponized" the authority have spurred a vote of no confidence in Peterborough City Council. If successful it will see the council leader ousted and the Conservative administration dissolved. But how did it get to this point - and what does a vote of no confidence mean?

A no confidence motion has been put forward by Chris Harper, the leader of the independent group, Peterborough First.

Ten councillors, including the leaders of the Labour, Liberal Democrats and Green groups, have signed it. They are expected to put forward an alternative leader and administration at the same time as the no confidence vote.

The motion says opposition members "no longer have trust or confidence in the Leader of the Council, their cabinet or their administration and seek an alternative leader and administration".

It continues: "The political attacks and weaponization of the Council administration against opposition members has led to the relationship between the leader (including his cabinet) and the opposition groups (including former group members) deteriorating to such an extent that the delivery of our council services and having majority consent on major policy including the budget are at risk."

It goes on to say it is a "vital time for our council to have stability and sensible leadership to navigate through the difficult financial and governance challenges it is facing."

The Conservatives are the largest political party on Peterborough City Council, but they do not have a majority and are running the unitary authority as a minority administration.

In May, the Conservative group took 30 seats during the local council elections, just one off a simple majority of 31 out of 60 seats.

However, within weeks of the election seven conservative councillors resigned from the party and joined independent group Peterborough First.

The councillors gave a variety of reasons for resigning but among them were the disagreements with Mr Fitzgerald's leadership style.

It means that the council is now run by a Conservative minority of just 23, though they remain the largest party.

A vote of no confidence had been expected by Mr Fitzgerald for some time and has referred to it in social media videos and interviews in recent months.

He has been a councillor since 2006 - and leader of the city council since May 2021.

Councillor Fitzgerald said he thought he would "almost certainly" lose the vote and would "take it on the chin".

He added that he did not "recognise it" and it was "totally undemocratic" because the ex-Conservatives had not stood for re-election once they had left the party.

When he was asked about his political future, he said he wanted to stand as a candidate for Combined Authority Mayor.

At the same meeting a motion, by a fellow conservative councillor, called for councillors to ask the region's MPs to back a law change requiring a by-election if local councillors resign from the party with which they were elected.

It is a vote in which councillors from all parties decide whether they want the leader or council to continue in post.

The initial vote needs the support of a simple majority of councillors to pass: together, opposition groups have 37, while the Conservatives have 23. 

If councillors vote for the motion a new leader and administration will be appointed, but if councillors vote against, there will be no change to the council leadership.

The vote is due to be held during a full council meeting at 18:00 GMT on 1 November.

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