Recently elected Labour MP resigns as county councillor

Twm Owen, local democracy reporter

A recently elected Labour MP has resigned as a county councillor – which could lead to a by-election in the coming weeks.

Catherine Fookes was elected as the Labour MP for Monmouthshire at July’s general election when she defeated Conservative Welsh secretary David Davies, taking the seat with a 3,338 majority.

Shortly after her election the Conservative opposition group at Monmouthshire County Council attempted to force a vote calling for the MP to set a date for when she would resign her Monmouth Town ward seat on the local authority.

The motion was defeated, and dismissed as “sour grapes”, but Ms Fookes told the council she intended to resign at “an appropriate time” insisting a council by-election shouldn’t be held during the summer holiday period.

Her resignation has now been tendered to Monmouthshire County Council which has advertised a “notice of vacancy” for the Town ward seat.

Minority administration

Labour holds 22 of the 46 seats on the council, having come to power as a minority administration at the 2022 local government elections, and runs the council through a coalition with the single Green Party member, who sits in the ruling cabinet.

Green councillor Ian Chanlder is part of a ‘Green Independent’ group with Usk independent member, Meirion Howells, and his vote has proved crucial in a number of decisions being approved by the full council.

Should Labour lose the Town ward seat it could make getting its decisions through the full council more difficult. Crunch upcoming votes include a decision, expected in October, to approve the local development plan which will pave the way for thousands of new homes in the county.

The Conservatives, who have 18 seats in County Hall, won a by-election in the Town ward to Monmouth Town Council in June this year.

A by-election will be called to fill the county council seat if two electors from the local authority area request one. There is no time limit for the requests to be received, but if the required number isn’t received, the seat will remain vacant.

Notice

Ms Fookes’ resignation has been confirmed by the publication of the notice and at a meeting of the council’s standards committee on Monday, September 16.

Marian Gibson, an independent member of the committee Cllr Fookes had been a member of, asked if the new MP intended to continue as a member following her election. When told it was anticipated Cllr Fookes would resign she asked if there was a “time limit” for her to offer her resignation.

Rhian Williams, another indpendent member of the committee, said she’d read “in the local press” that Ms Fookes intended to resign but hadn’t said when and said: “It’s certainly in the public domain it is her intention.”

Ms Gibson said she was “conscious the committee was losing an element of input” and said as Ms Fookes hadn’t given a date she was concerned “this should not run and run, for our committee’s interest.”

Conservative committee member, Llangybi Fawr councillor Fay Bromfield, said it was “important” the committee is balanced and it should have discussion with the council’s Labour leader, Mary Ann Brocklesby, about when the Labour group would nominate a replacement.

At the end of the meeting, some 40 minutes after the discussion, the council’s deputy monitoring officer Geraint Edwards said he’d checked his emails and he could confirm Ms Fookes had tended her resignation as a county councillor.