There was much back slapping and high-fiving among jubilant Labour councillors in Walsall who saw their 14 years of opposition brought to an abrupt end last week as they seized the reins of power.
Having failed against the odds to secure an outright majority in May and saw their first bid to remove Tory Mike Bird as leader thwarted by a rainbow alliance of Tories, Lib Dems, 海角视频IP and independent councillors, the Labour group had to bide their time until they secured a by-election victory last month.
Even then at the hastily arranged emergency meeting they managed to limp up to the line, rather than cross it, with 30 out of 60 seats.
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As it was, the failure of a 海角视频IP councillor to attend and the support of Walsall’s eccentric independent mayor ensured they secured the leadership on a 31-12 vote with many opponents abstaining in the face of the inevitable defeat.
But the reason for the self-congratulation was the level of misdirection put about by the Labour group.
When the meeting was called at little over a week’s notice, Labour claimed they would struggle to get their members back from summer holidays.
Labour leader Sean Coughlan said: “We fear that, because of previous commitments, some Labour members will not be able to attend.”
I am told there were elaborate messages designed to lull the opposition into a false sense of security – tweets and texts apparently sent from abroad as the meeting the approached, along with the panicky press release, suggested they may fall short. But of course on the night all 30 were there. The party had already paid to fly three councillors home from their holidays and was assured of victory.
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Senior Labour figures looking from outside suggest that instead of congratulating themselves for pulling off a coup and seizing the leadership nine months ahead of the next election – they should be looking a how they let Councillor Bird enjoy another three months of leadership.
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Birmingham Council leader Sir Albert Bore has decided he needs extra help to run Europe’s largest local authority and is advertising for a new chief of staff.
Applications for the role, which carries a salary in the £40,000 to £50,000 pay bracket, is currently only open to city council employees.
The role involves supporting the ‘leader’s vision, goals, priorities and responsibilities’ and talks of representing Sir Albert in routine meetings and managing the leaders office.
It also suggests the selected individual should prepare themselves for work in the evenings, weekends and be ready to join Sir Albert on his forays beyond the Midlands region.
The subtext to this is that Sir Albert is notorious for round-the-clock working – even to the point that until recently he managed two high profile jobs – running the council and QE hospital chairman – without breaking a sweat.
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So the applicant had better be prepared for the same.
The other requirement suggests the candidate be prepared for some travel. I would think that if they are going to be up front they should warn them that accompanying Sir Albert on his excursions will involve spending hours on end in multi-lingual conference rooms in far flung destinations like Vilnius while Europe’s council leaders debate emissions targets or some such policy.
Potential chiefs-of-staff should also be warned that, no matter how important a cog in the leadership machine they are, they will always be seen to those of us outside the leader’s inner circle as the person who answers his phone, carries his paperwork and ensures he has combed his hair and straightened his tie before meetings and photocalls.