Dear Editor,

In last week‘s edition you quoted county council leader: John Davies as saying: "At the election last June, the people of Pembrokeshire voted for Independent candidates with an overwhelming majority.

Almost two-thirds of the council are members of the Independent Group. The will of the people of this county is that the Independents should control this county council. Any other outcome would be contrary to the conclusions of the ballot box. The fact is that the candidate that wins the largest number votes wins the seat and the group that has the largest number of seats runs the council."

Unfortunately, Cllr Davies seems to be in some confusion regarding the distinction between someone elected as an independent i.e. not a member of one of the traditional political parties, and a member of the Independent Political Group (IPG).

It is true that the party with a majority of the seats runs the show, but the fact is that the members of Cllr Davies’ group took advantage of the Pembrokeshire electorate’s antipathy to party politics in local government to get themselves elected as independents.

It was only after the election that they came out as members of what Cllr Davies now admits, is, to all intents and purposes, a political party.

I challenge Cllr Davies to produce a single election address put out by one of his party members that makes any mention of the Independent Political Group.

Furthermore, my own recollection of last June’s election bears no relationship to the Independent Political Group triumph described by Cllr Davies.

That election saw the defeat of the Leader (Maurice Hughes); three of his Cabinet colleagues (Roy Folland, Pat Griffiths and Brian Howells); the Chairman-elect (Glyn Rees), a former Chairman (Bryan Phillips); and two loyal foot soldiers (George Max and Norman Parry).

The main reason the IPG survived this electoral disaster with its majority intact is that, in the main, those who replaced the IPG stalwarts promptly joined the party.

What this means is that the IPG was, in effect, running more than one candidate in these wards.

I would suggest that my own election in Hakin gives a much more accurate picture of the voters’ true intentions.
There, you will remember, I polled more than twice as many votes as George Max who was a member of the IPG.

I know from my conversations on the doorstep that my promise (which I have kept) to be an independent independent; completely free of any party or group associations, was a major factor in that success.

It seems that the members of the Independent Political Group also understand the importance the electorate invests in true independence and embarked on what can only be described as electoral misselling.
For instance, the Cllr John Allen-Mirehouse, then deputy Leader of the IPG, wrote in his election address: "I have no political party to obey, nor am I encumbered by any political manifesto…"

And, as the Mercury reported at the time, he was one of nine members of the IPG who neglected even to put the word independent on their ballot papers.

Like me, readers may wonder how it can be said to be "the will of the people" that a Political Group should control the council when voters are not told what it stands for.

Perhaps the most extreme manifestation of this desire to conceal their true political colours is to be found in the advert placed in the Tenby Observer by Cllr Jim Codd in which he informed the electors of East Williamston: "I am a truly INDEPENDENT candidate - having no leanings to any political party or group."

That was a straightforward lie because Cllr Codd, who Cllr John Davies has since promoted to assistant Cabinet member in his government of "highest ethical standards", signed a form declaring his membership of the Independent Political Group on 29 June 2001, the day after the bye-election at which he first won his seat.

It would also be interesting to know what people in Milford Haven thought they were getting when they voted for Cllrs Anne Hughes and Martin Davies - truly independent members, or a pair of loyal party stooges?

What is, perhaps, revealing is that neither of them offered a word of support when, at the last meeting of council, I attacked the lack of spending in Milford Haven in the Independent Political Group’s capital budget for next year.
Of course, if the members of the Independent Political Group register as a political party - as has happened in other parts of Wales - put forward a manifesto, and still win a majority of seats on the council, there will be no complaints from me.

But what is fundamental in a democracy is that people should know the candidates’ true intentions BEFORE the votes are cast.

My own view is that, contrary to what Cllr John Davies says, the voters of Pembrokeshire vote for "independent" candidates because that don’t want any party to be in control.

What they expect is that their elected representatives will attend meetings; listen to the arguments; and cast their votes according to their own independent assessment of the merits of the case..

What actually happens is that these independents, so-called, attend secret group pre-meetings and then turn up to the meeting proper and engage in what the Mercury has memorably described as synchronised voting.

Could I suggest that a political group of 38 members, that always votes as a block, indicates the very opposite of the independence that they claim.

Perhaps they should call themselves the Pembrokeshire United Party (PUP) because that’s what the electorate has been sold.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Mike Stoddart