THE LEADER of Warwickshire County Council has vowed to get on with his job after surviving a vote of no confidence.
Nineteen-year-old George Finch’s future as leader saw him hang on by a single vote at a full meeting of WCC on Tuesday (March 17).
A total of 26 councillors voted in favour of removing Coun Finch as leader, but 27 voted against, with two abstentions.
Coun Finch, who was appointed to the top position at WCC last summer, faced the vote after being accused of bringing the authority “into disrepute”.
Green Party councillors called for a vote on Coun Finch’s position amid suggestions the Reform UK councillor had “abused the office of leader”.
Warwickshire Green Party group leader Coun Jonathan Chilvers said the motion had been submitted due to incidents including a dispute with police over their handling of a case involving the rape of a 12 year-old girl in Nuneaton by an Afghan asylum seeker, and a row with the council’s chief executive, Monica Fogarty, over the flying of Pride flags at WCC’s Shire Hall headquarters in Warwick.
Coun Chilvers continued: “George Finch has abused the office of leader of the council and time and again brought Warwickshire into disrepute.
“His repeated attacks on staff, partner institutions and use of his role for constant cheap and nasty political points scoring is unacceptable and violates rule of law, democratic norms and basic decency.”
Of the 55 councillors who attended the full council meeting, two independent councillors, 19 Reform councillors and six Conservative councillors voted against the motion.
Fourteen Liberal Democrat councillors, one Conservative, six Green, three Labour and two independent councillors voted in favour.
Two Restore Britain councillors abstained from voting.
After the vote, Coun Finch said the result of the motion was what the electorate had voted for, and what had happened in the council chambers would not affect how the authority was run.
He continued: “We are in a minority administration and we do have to work with other parties and we’ve shown that from day one.
“To be honest with you, I don’t want to waste any more time on things like that.
“I want to make sure the people get the county council that’s working for them and that’s what I’m committed to do. I don’t want to waste any more time talking about it or going over it, because that’s not what the people voted us in for.”
Coun FInch added: “There has been terminology I could have used better and I take that on board, but again I still agree 100 per cent with what I was saying.
“Everyone slips up every now and again and that’s real life, we’re human.”
