Mayor vows to stay on despite no confidence vote

Bedford's mayor says he plans to stay on despite a no confidence vote from his own council.

The move follows a petition signed by more than 1,500 people calling for Tom Wootton to resign from his position.

Wootton, a Conservative, was elected as mayor of Bedford Borough in 2023.

He described the petition as politically motivated.

After the petition was presented, councillors debated a motion declaring they had no confidence in the mayor and called on him to resign.

Liberal Democrat leader Henry Vann, who started the petition, told Wednesday's full council meeting it was "a response to the demands of a growing number of residents who are genuinely alarmed at the direction the council is going in".

Wootton told councillors: "This petition has been brought forward by the leader of the Liberal Democrats, who is campaigning himself to become mayor next year.

"This really is a political campaign and it is not a genuine attempt to bring this council together."

He added that his administration "will continue doing what we have been elected to do, taking responsibility, making difficult decisions and delivering for the people of Bedford Borough."

Vann accepted that he had put himself forward as a mayoral candidate but said: "I'm not going to apologise for bringing this petition forward on behalf of residents."

Labour's Zara Layne said the mayor had not delivered on promises to manage planning more effectively, reinvigorate sports centres and improve bus services.

She added: "Independent inspectors have examined our leadership, our governance, our culture, and our use of public resources.

"This is not routine. It is one of the highest levels of scrutiny that any local authority can face."

Green councillor Ben Foley referred to the resignation of three cabinet members in May and said: "There is so much incompetence that even the cabinet appointed by the mayor realised that the mayor is not up to the job."

Conservative councillor Dylan Simmons was among those who backed Wootton, saying: "I'm not asking you to like him, I'm asking you to put residents first and not indulge in this nonsense."

When the vote came, 28 members voted for saying the council had no confidence in the mayor and he should resign, while 12 disagreed.

After the meeting, Vann said the vote could "technically be ignored, but this was a cross-party call demonstrating that [councillors] no longer have confidence in the mayor and need things to change".

What does this all mean for the mayor?

There is no mechanism allowing a council to dismiss an elected mayor, but the vote is likely to weaken Wootton's authority.

Opponents may now argue that he lacks the confidence of both councillors and voters, potentially making future decisions harder to push through.

With the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat having very similar numbers of seats on the council, there is every chance that opposition parties will join forces against the mayor on crucial votes.

While the mayor has enough power to make many decisions on his own, councillors retain the final say on the authority's budget and used their votes to reject Wootton's first plan for this year's spending.

His budget got through at the second attempt, but councillors also retain powers over things like planning and licensing, and could use them to frustrate the mayor.

They could also put his decisions under greater scrutiny in an effort to encourage him to step down.

With opponents emboldened by a no confidence vote, mayor Wootton could be in for a rough ride over the next few months.

Wootton has been approached for comment.

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