Old Grumpy notices that an interesting story has appeared over on that other website.
Well, it had to happen eventually – infinite time, monkeys, typewriters and the complete works of Shakespeare, and all that.
As the young upstart explains, Cllr Pearl Llewellyn has finally taken the plunge and resigned from the IPPG.
Not before time seeing that she has been carrying her resignation letter around in her handbag for the past twelve months.
As the saying on the back of the matchbox had it: “I used to be indecisive, but now I’m not so sure”.
However, as Jacob points out, Pearl’s defection leaves the IPPG with exactly half of the sixty seats on the council and that nullifies the statutory political balance rule that the group with the majority of seats on the council must have a majority on all committees.
That will cost it several committee places and committee chairmanships, though it can probably rely on its Tory friends to keep it afloat for a while.
Most important, Pearl’s desertion will cost the IPPG one of its seats on the National Park (basic allowance £3,600) making it a miserable Christmas for whichever turkey Jamie decides is for the chop.
Also in the news this week is the elevation of Cllr Myles Pepper to the Cabinet as replacement for Rob Summons who has stepped down.
Cllr Pepper is an interesting case because, as Jacob has pointed out, he was the only IPPG member to support an opposition vote of no confidence in the Leader at the extraordinary meeting in September 2014.
Now he finds himself serving in Cllr Adams’ Cabinet.
It is difficult to know which is the most impressive: Jamie’s lack of rancour, or Cllr Pepper’s lack of principle.
I recently had the privilege of seeing Cllr Pepper in action as chairman of planning on the committee’s visit to the site of the new school in Hakin/Hubberston.
While the committee was studying the site from Gelliswick Road, town councillor Eric Harries took up a position close by.
Cllr Pepper asked him to move.
I have no idea how he came by the idea that he had the authority to prevent someone from standing on a public footpath.
Nor did Eric.
“I’m not moving” he told Cllr Pepper.
“Then we’ll move” Cllr Pepper retorted.
“And I’ll follow you” said Eric, and he did.
A man with such authoritarian tendencies will fit easily into Cllr Adams’ Cabinet.
During my researches into this piece I had cause to revisit the minutes of the extraordinary meeting in September 2014 where I found that the motion of no confidence in Cllr Adams had been signed by none other than Cllr Alison Lee who just over one month later abandoned Labour and accepted the Leader’s invitation to join his Cabinet.
Another who signed the no confidence motion was Cllr Bob Kilmister, who, the bold Jacob revealed in October 2014, had been in secret negotiations with Cllr Adams over a coalition between the IPPG and the Pembrokeshire Alliance Party (PAP).
Indeed on the very day that these negotiations commenced Bob had told Cllr Adams at a public meeting that he should resign because the people of Pembrokeshire had lost confidence in him.
As reward for bringing his party on board, Bob was to become deputy leader at a salary of almost thirty five grand, though, of course, it wasn’t the money that attracted him because as Bob wrote on his blog ““The sole objective is to put Pembrokeshire first.”
Unfortunately for for Cllr Kilmister, when his PAP colleagues got to hear about this piece of treachery there was outrage and Bob had to pack his ambitions away and beat a hasty retreat.
So it goes on in the cesspool that is Pembrokeshire politics.
With in excess of £200,000 of taxpayers money (SRAs) to dole out, there is no shortage of money when the leader needs to buy in support.
And, it seems, there is no shortage of members willing to be bought.