Labour councillor bemoans lacks of opposition members on 'executive committee' of new Northants shadow council

Councillor Danielle Stone wants to see opposition councillors more involved in the process of helping to set up the new unitary council for West Northamptonshire.

Councillor Danielle Stone, a Labour councillor who leads her party at Northampton Borough, and who is also a shadow cabinet member at the county council, says the ‘shadow executive committee’ should have members from her own party as well as the Liberal Democrats.

The shadow executive committee for West Northamptonshire Council – which is due to replace the existing district councils in Northampton, Daventry and South Northants, as well as the county council – is currently made up of the eight leaders and deputy leaders for each respective councils, all of whom are Conservatives.

Councillor Stone said: “I’m very unhappy that there are no councillors from other parties. I think we have a lot to contribute despite it being something that I didn’t want to see happen [the reorganisation], and it would have been good if Labour and the Lib Dems were represented on the executive committee, after all it’s only a shadow one.”

The shadow council is expected to run behind the scenes in the months leading up to the anticipated launch date of April 1, 2021.

The leader of South Northamptonshire Council, Ian McCord, was appointed by the Government as the de facto leader of the new shadow council. The decision to take the appointment out of the hands of local councillors has previously been labelled ‘undemocratic’ by Councillor Stone, but she said she had been encouraged after speaking with Councillor McCord that opposition councillors may have a part to play on some of the other shadow council committees.

She added: “One thing I am pleased about though is that opposition councillors are going to be on the working groups, and I’ve been told they will also chair the scrutiny committee. I don’t even know that it will be formed for sure, but I was told they would be accepting of it. It seems to be the best practice to have the opposition doing it, the administration should not be scrutinising themselves, so I think that’s really good.”