Conservative and Labour borough councillors spent part of last night’s full council meeting arguing with each other resulting in the leader of the Conservatives allegedly offering to take a Labour councillor outside.
Cllr Shaun Davies took to Twitter last night to express his apparent outrage at leader of the Conservative group, Cllr Andrew Eade, telling Labour’s Cllr Clive Elliot to “shut up or I’ll make him” and offering him outside for a fight.
Andrew Eade leader of the Tory group in Telford told @cllrclive to go outside – he got up and walked across the chamber. #shocking
— Shaun Davies (@CllrShaunDavies) September 13, 2012
He was tweeting about it well into the night, trying to get a reaction out of the Shropshire Star’s chief reporter (who was present) but got nothing but disinterest and disdain, quite rightly being told “as an outsider I just found the whole thing childish and ridiculous”. No front page for Cllr Davies then.
@CllrShaunDavies Possibly, but as an outsider I just found the whole thing childish and ridiculous.
— Ann Clarkson (@AnnClarkson) September 13, 2012
Last night’s playground altercation and political manoeuvring – all at Telford & Wrekin council taxpayers expense – just reaffirms our commitment to an elected mayor. An elected mayor with a small, cross-party cabinet drawn from the small number of councillors on both sides who are mature enough to work together without arguing and fighting would better serve residents of Telford & Wrekin than the current system where the whole council is controlled by one party and the “opposition” spends most of its time trying to score points off them.
The behaviour that has been reported of Cllr. Eade should surprise no one. The late Pam Wilkie, who served as Tory Agent in Telford for several decades, once cautioned me to “…be very carefull if you take him (Eade) on…not a nice man in many ways…”
It is a great shame that Elizabeth Holt (Telford Tory President) has always championed Eade, irrespective of his failed leadership, ludicrous policies and his notoriously “grumpy” outbursts, which have sadly become the stuff of Telford folk-legend.
Do the gaggle of Tory councillors that remain on Telford & Wrekin Council really wish to continue to be associated with this man? If Andrew Eade is prone to outbursts of this nature in public, who knows what he is like in private?
A councillor for once has passion in what he believes and is a delight to see that someone cares about our community opposed to being a nodding dog!!
Good on you councillor Eade, keep up the good work !
It was a personal argument, nothing to do with principals.
Coming into this late, but the outburst was prompted by Cllr Clive Elliot making a childish comment, comparing the opposition to Dwarves from Snow White. This made it into the nationals, making a mockery of Telford.