Reform council leader narrowly survives no confidence vote
BBCReform UK council leader George Finch has survived a no confidence call by one vote.
The vote was carried out at Warwickshire County Council's full council meeting after Green Party councillors suggested he had "abused the office of leader".
Twenty six councillors voted for the motion and 27 against, while two councillors abstained from voting.
Speaking afterwards, Finch, who made headlines last year after becoming the youngest council leader in the UK at 19, said he did not want to "waste any more time" talking about the vote and thanked councillors who had supported him.
Warwickshire Green Party group leader Jonathan Chilvers said he had submitted the motion due to incidents including a dispute with police over their handling of a case involving the rape of a 12-year-old girl and a row with the council's chief executive, Monica Fogarty, over Pride flags.
Speaking at the meeting, Chilvers said the motion was not one he brought lightly.
He said: "This motion is about actions and behaviour. Politics is about rough and tumble… but it's also about kindness and treating people as human beings.
"He asked us to judge him on his actions as leader, and his actions have fallen short."
But Finch labelled the move by the Greens to remove him as a "political stunt" and defended his actions.
He previously told the BBC he "stood strong with the community", and that questioning the integrity of Warwickshire Police's chief constable had been a call for clarity.
"There's nothing wrong with doing that," he said.
Fellow Reform councillor Neil Garland backed Finch at the meeting, adding before the vote: "If we endorse this motion, we send a message to the public that voting does not matter.
Garland encouraged councillors to "reject this political theatre and stand firmly behind Councillor Finch".
Green PartyConservative Group leader Adrian Warwick urged Finch to "learn" from the comments made by councillors after he was criticised about a comment made on a politics podcast on his "boots on neck-type" method to get things done.
Warwick said: "Councillor Finch, if you get through today's vote… Take on board the comments of today, learn. Because there needs to be some stability in this chamber."
After the vote, Finch thanked Warwick and other Conservative councillors who voted against the motion.
He told the BBC: "I want to thank the Conservative leader and his councillors that voted for me. We've seen some great common sense there.
"There has been terminology I could have used better and I take that on board, but again I still agree 100% with what I was saying.
"Everyone slips up every now and again and that's real life, we're human."
'Not what we were voted in for'
Out of the 55 councillors who attended the full council meeting, two independent councillors, 19 Reform councillors and six Conservative councillors voted against the motion.
Fourteen Liberal Democrat councillors, one Conservative, six Green, three Labour and two independent councillors voted in favour.
In addition, two Restore Britain councillors abstained from voting.
Finch said residents wanted "common sense leadership, not a coalition of chaos".
He said the result of the motion was what the electorate had voted for, and that what had happened in the council chambers would not affect how the authority was run.
He said: "We are in a minority administration and we do have to work with other parties and we've shown that from day one.
"To be honest with you, I don't want to waste any more time on things like that.
"I want to make sure the people get the county council that's working for them and that's what I'm committed to do. I don't want to waste any more time talking about it or going over it, because that's not what the people voted us in for."
Chilvers told the BBC that despite the result, the Green Party has not ruled out another challenge to Councillor Finch's leadership in the future.
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