A Labour council leader who described campaigners flying St George’s flags as “criminals” and “nonces” has avoided facing a confidence vote in his leadership.
Jeremy Newmark, the leader of Hertsmere Council in Hertfordshire, will remain at the head of the authority’s Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition after a vote on whether to add the confidence motion to the agenda ended in a deadlock.
The council’s Labour mayor, Parveen Rani, voted against putting forward the proposal, which would have led to a second confidence vote in Mr Newmark in two years. The motion was therefore defeated.
Mr Newmark’s administration has come under mounting pressure in recent months. Among the controversies were allegations that he had referred to Nigerians as “crooks”, claims that were not upheld by a council standards panel.
It also emerged that another Labour councillor suggested the party should “start planning sites where we can’t win seats” and make a “political decision” not to become involved in a major development.
Chris Myers told fellow party members they should avoid proposals for 900 homes in Potters Bar, arguing that Labour had “a fairly good chance of retaining and doubling seats” in the area.
In June, audio leaked to the Daily Mail also appeared to capture Labour councillor Aaditya Kaza saying members had been instructed how to vote on a separate planning application.
The latest attempt to trigger a confidence vote followed a by-election three months ago that wiped out the administration’s majority.
Jeremy Newmark, the Labour leader of Hertsmere Council who called St George’s flag campaigners “nonces”, has avoided another confidence vote in his leadership.
The proposal, tabled by Reform UK councillors, also called for the authority to be run by a “strategic alignment administration” for the remainder of its term.
But a vote to change the agenda failed after 17 members voted in favour and the same number against, necessitating the Labour mayor’s casting vote.
Two Conservative councillors, who both also serve on a district council in Cambridgeshire, were absent from the meeting in Hertsmere.
Paul Hodgson-Jones and Sarah Hodgson-Jones, both members of Huntingdonshire Council, did not attend the Hertsmere meeting.
Mr Hodgson-Jones chaired a meeting of that council’s corporate governance committee on the same evening.
Brett Rosehill, a Reform councillor, called their absence ‘deeply disappointing’.
‘Whatever our political differences, Hertsmere councillors should put Hertsmere residents first.’
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Referring to his Reform colleague, Mr Rosehill said: ‘Caroline Clapper and I turned up, made our case and were prepared to vote.
‘Residents can draw their own conclusions about those who chose not to be there.’
He said Mr Newmark’s leadership had been ‘mired in controversy’ and ‘something had to be done’ after his administration lost its majority.
Mr Newmark, who ran in the 2017 general election for the north London parliamentary seat of Finchley and Golders Green, faced calls to quit last year after his comments on the movement known as Operation Raise the Colours.
He accused the group of running ‘an attempt by a bunch of extremists, criminals, nonces to hijack our national flag’.
The remarks came days after an estimated 150,000 supporters of ex-English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson took part in a ‘Unite The Kingdom’ rally in London.
Opposition councillors condemned him for allegedly ‘forfeiting his integrity’ and ‘pushing people apart’.
And in March last year, Mr Newmark claimed a Tory finance spokesman had used an ‘antisemitic trope’ suggesting the Labour leader ‘orchestrates everything in this chamber’.
Abhishek Sachdev made the remark during a speech on the council’s budget for the past year.
The Labour leader said Mr Sachdev’s comments were ‘straight out of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’, referring to an antisemitic publication which falsely details a Jewish plot for global domination.
Morris Bright, the Tory leader on the council, branded Mr Newmark a ‘disgrace’.
The Labour man later said he had not suggested Mr Sachdev had ‘any harmful intent’ with his words, nor did he accuse him of being an antisemite.
Following the outburst Mr Newmark survived a confidence motion in the same month by a single vote.
Hertsmere Council was contacted for comment.