Council leader travelled at public expense to Labour centenary event

Martin Shipton

A former council leader has been criticised after it emerged that he used a publicly funded Mayor’s car to travel to two Welsh Labour events commemorating the party’s 100 years as the biggest political force in Wales.

Cllr Huw David, who stepped down last year as the leader of Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) was driven by the Mayor’s chauffeur on November 15 2022 from Bridgend to the Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay.

There, members of the Labour Party held a celebratory meeting at which speeches were given by politicians and party officials about the significance of the centenary.

Later, Cllr David was taken to the St David’s Hotel in Cardiff Bay for a gala dinner attended by Labour grandees including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Two events

In a Freedom of Information disclosure, it has now been confirmed that Cllr David travelled in the Mayor’s car to the two events in Cardiff.

A spokesperson for the Bridgend County Independents group of opposition councillors said: “At a time when local government is under extreme financial pressure with a proposal to cut the schools budget by a further 1% next year we need to look closely at how we spend our residents’ money.

“The mayoral car is an anachronism which is difficult to defend in this day and age.

“However, this Freedom of Information response has laid bare the fact that it was also being used by the Leader and Cabinet members for a range of journeys that simply cannot be justified.

“It is time for the mayoral car to be withdrawn and also for this Labour BCBC administration to justify the journeys that have been detailed in this Freedom of Information request.”

‘No justification’

A Bridgend council source who did not wish to be identified said: “There is no justification for the former council leader using the Mayor’s car to attend party political events. It also doesn’t seem right that he was driven to Windsor Castle to pick up his OBE. That’s a personal honour and there’s no reason for council tax payers to foot the bill.”

Cllr David said: “I was awarded the OBE for my work in local government, so it was appropriate for me to travel to Windsor Castle in the Mayor’s car.

“I also attended the Llafur 100 events in Cardiff as leader of the council, not as a member of the Labour Party, so the use of the Mayor’s car was justified on that occasion too.

“As a matter of fact, the Mayor’s car has, from this week, been dispensed with as a budget cut, so the issue won’t arise in the future.”

In the FoI disclosure the council said it did not hold a record of how much individual journeys made by the Mayor’s car cost.