South Tyneside Independents» Councillors » Congratulations to the new mayor and mayoress of South Tyneside

Congratulations to the new mayor and mayoress of South Tyneside

May 19th, 2010 | By admin | Category: Councillors

At yesterday’s annual meeting of the Full Council, Cllr Tom Piggott (Labour) was appointed the Mayor of South Tyneside for the coming year. The Mayoress will be Tom’s wife Alma. The meeting also appointed Cllr Jim Sewell (Labour) as the deputy Mayor.

Whilst the Independent Alliance would like to congratulate Cllrs Piggott and Sewell we cannot help but wonder why the ruling Labour group and their allies have failed to once again recognise the contribution of the borough’s longest serving councillor, Cllr Jim Capstick (Progressive).

Although the mayoralty is supposed to be a non partisan position, under Labour it has become a political appointment used by successive Labour council leaders as a tool to ensure personal allegiance and appease the various factions within the local Labour party.

Regular town hall watchers will recall that in previous years the Independent Alliance has nominated and supported Cllr Jim Capstick (Progressive) for the position of Mayor. We have done so purely on the basis that Cllr Capstick has served the people of South Tyneside for more than four decades.

We believe that there is no one more qualified and deserving of the mayoralty than Cllr Capstick and feel that it would be a fitting tribute to someone who has a long and distinguished record of public service. Unfortunately it seems our view is not shared by either the ruling Labour group or his colleagues in the newly formed ‘cooperation group’ – a group made up of 3 x Conservative, 2 x Liberal Democrat, 2 x Real Independent and 3 x Progressive councillors. Between them they failed to nominate Cllr Capstick for the position of Mayor and like most people why can’t help but wonder why!