Staffordshire County Council remains without permanent leader after three months
A permanent leader has still not been selected to head up Staffordshire County Council – three months after a former Reform UK member stood down from the role.
Acting council leader Martin Murray told fellow elected members at a meeting on Thursday (March 12) that a successor would be elected “at the earliest opportunity, once group rules and council rules permit”.
The announcement came at the beginning of another heated full county council meeting, after last month’s session saw members accuse one another of hurtful comments on social media and racism. Protesters were once again present outside the council’s meeting place, County Buildings, holding banners calling for the departure of Councillors Chris Large, Peter Mason and Ian Cooper, who have all come under fire from anti-racism campaigners for alleged activity on social media.
At the start of Thursday’s meeting, council chairman Paul Williams said: “I would like to remind all members of the need to comply with the council’s procedural standing orders. Where a member breaches procedural standing orders or their speech contains irrelevances or tedious repetition, the chairman may call on that member to cease their speech and sit down.
“If the member continues to disregard the authority of the chairman, the chairman may ask them to leave the chamber for the remainder of the meeting and – if they fail to do so – order their removal. No member may question another member’s motives or use offensive expressions to any member of the council or officer.”
Thursday’s meeting included raised voices on both sides of the chamber however. Conservative members hit out at changes to the debating system on the leader’s statement, branding it a “terrible agenda”, while Reform UK member Councillor Murray told the opposition to “stop acting like children”.
Conservative Catherine Brown, who had put forward a question at the start of the meeting on the actions the authority would be taking to act on hate crime, used her supplementary question to ask how the council could have any credibility on the issue when a Reform UK member remained on the cabinet who had made controversial social media posts about women and black people.
Councillor Peter Mason, who remains cabinet member for strategic highways, apologised in November for his “choice of words” on the posts, which were made in 2023 and 2024. He was present at Thursday’s meeting, but did not respond to Councillor Brown’s question.
Councillor Anthony Screen, cabinet member for community safety and resilience, replied: “I will consider a reply in writing. I do not thank you for the question.”
Former county council leader Ian Cooper, who was expelled from Reform UK last year after he failed to disclose a social media account, has faced allegations over racist social media posts. He now sits as an independent member of the council and was present at Thursday’s meeting, but did not speak during proceedings.
Councillor Chris Large was due to succeed him as the authority’s new leader, but stood down just days after the announcement, due to a family bereavement. He previously hit the headlines following allegations that a TikTok account bearing his name made or endorsed racist comments, but said that he had not been personally responsible for the activity, which he condemned, and that a large number of people had access to the account.
Councillor Large, previously cabinet member for finance and resources, is currently an independent councillor, but Reform UK has not commented on why he is no longer in the party. He was absent from Thursday’s meeting.
Councillor Murray told fellow members that Councillor Large “is on sick leave at the moment”. He added: “I know he is eager to return to represent his constituents in Brewood as soon as he can.
“We will be electing a leader for this council at the earliest opportunity, once group rules and council rules permit. We know the importance of democratic choice and we will always make sure every person has their say and vote when invited to do so.”
Conservative group leader Philip White said: “We all agree with you on this side, after three months without a leader, it is essential that we do have a permanent leader of the council as soon as possible. Three months without a leader is a deep, deep concern to us all, so thank you for speaking to it.”
