Claims of a coalition 'in all but name' at Portsmouth City Council are denied

Councillor Simon Bosher, the leader of Portsmouth City Council’s Conservative group, said an agreement between the two groups, which saw them secure the chairman position on all but three committees, was ‘letting residents down’ by securing paid positions for themselves at the expense of opposition scrutiny.

His claim has been denied by the leaders of both the Lib Dems and Pip who said the arrangement approved at Tuesday’s council meeting allowed all groups to be represented and would deliver the best results.

But Cllr Bosher has called on Cllrs Steve Pitt and George Madgwick to be more ‘transparent’ about what they agreed, saying the deal would require Pip to support the Lib Dems in key votes, including on Tipner West and the local plan.

‘There has to be some level of opposition representation in these roles and we now don’t have that,’ he said. ‘What has been agreed if a coalition in all but name and I don’t think that’s fair to the residents, especially those who were told they were voting for independents.’

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At Tuesday’s meeting, councillor Graham Heaney, the deputy leader of the Labour group, proposed a new system through which these roles are allocated proportionally based on the size of each group.

However, a vote on it failed after concerns were raised about the need for more time to be spent examining any constitutional change although Cllr Pitt said he was happy for this to be looked at in the coming months.

Half of the council’s committees will now be chaired by Lib Dem councillors, while two of the remainder are led by Pip members.

It was also agreed that Cllr Madgwick would be the council’s representative on the Hampshire fire authority – a role that comes with an allowance of more than £6,000. Cllr Bosher said he had ‘chased’ these positions in exchange for ‘blithely’ giving his group’s support to the Lib Dems.

Responding to his accusation, Cllr Madgwick accused Cllr Bosher of having ‘a hissy fit’ after not getting what it wanted.

‘His claim is not true and it’s rank hypocrisy for him to be complaining about this after what happened between the Tories and Labour last year,’ he said. ‘We are open to working with any group but felt what the Lib Dems offered would be the most effective way of getting things done for the people we represent.’

He said there had been a discussion with the Lib Dems about forming a coalition which would have given him a desired cabinet position but he said this was turned down because it would have involved his group having to support them in votes.

Cllr Pitt said: ‘We were willing – and did – hold discussions with every group that approached us. Unfortunately Cllr Bosher decided not to do that.

‘What we agreed on Tuesday gives members from every group a position within committees. There’s no coalition.’

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