The Mayor of Maesteg town council, Cllr. Adam Rhys Davies, has announced his resignation from the Labour party, citing growing concerns over tribalism, abuse of power, “defending the indefensible” and a “sense of entitlement” amongst senior party members.
In a strongly-worded statement issued earlier this afternoon, Cllr. Davies said:
“To be put in a position where I would have to choose party allegiance over my own constituents or self-conscience has left me somewhat frustrated and indeed puzzled in recent weeks and months and is not something I would ever be willing to do or can endure any further.
“Shamefully, the silence has been deafening from some members of the group on matters which, by saying nothing, has hindered the interests of both council and public. An unjustifiable and inexcusable position but not one which has been held by all.
“This is something only individuals can explain moving forward if they wish to continue enabling such behaviours of individual ‘senior’ councillors within the party who act as though they have a sense of entitlement. I thank those who have spoken out and voted in an independent manner, irrelevant of ‘party allegiance.’
“Despite my reservations against continued silence on matters, I have been met by further silence, alternate versions, self-centred visions, mistruths, ‘smoke screens’ and more misleading information, with clear indications that I should not speak publicly on times for fear of party intervention or indeed a form of punishment from within the local Labour Party.
“….The local party appears to be heading in a direction where there is a toxic, manipulative and ‘nagging rot’ in its upper echelons whereby there is an expectation that it can continue in its mannerisms and be propped up by some of its members regardless of clear breaches of conduct and flagrant disregard of regulations.”
The full statement is available here.
Cllr. Davies – who represents Caerau – went on to say he has come to respect and become friends with “a majority of Labour colleagues” on Maesteg Town Council. However, he believes he would better serve constituents as an Independent and “not toe the line for the sake of a party”.
Maesteg Town Council recently voted to refer itself to Audit Wales for an investigation after a maintenance van was purchased “unlawfully”.
At that meeting, Cllr. Ceri Reeves (Lab, Maesteg West) – who was responsible for the purchase – was forced to stand down as Chair of the council’s Finance Committee. She accused Cllr. Davies (as Mayor) and the Clerk of not making it clear that she didn’t have the authority to approve the purchase by herself.
