Councils: One Suspension,One Defection.

There has been two interesting changes on our local Councils 

A Gwynedd councillor has been suspended by his party amid claims that he'd broken the authority’s code of conduct. 

According to the Daily Post .

The accusation against councillor John Brynmor Hughes, who represents the Llanengan ward on the Llyn Peninsula, has been sent to the Local Government Ombudsman.

It is believed that cllr Hughes, who sat as a Llais Gwynedd councillor after being elected to the authority in May 2012,  was suspended by the party on Friday following a party meeting held last Thursday evening.

The accusations arose after a member of the public claimed that cllr Hughes had manipulated his position by intervening in the sale of a plot of land in the Mynytho area that was earmarked  for new housing.

Cllr Hughes has stated he is unwilling to make any statement regarding  the matter.

Gwynedd Council has confirmed it has been made aware about the ongoing developments.

If this was to result in a byelection  resulting in a Plaid Gain it would mean the they had Nominal control of the Council.

But there was bad news for Plaid  in Pembrokeshire when  where a councillor has denied being politically motivated when he left Plaid Cymru in favour of the Independent ruling group.

The Western Telegraph on August 19th

Milford Haven Councillor Stephen Joseph, who defected to the Independent Plus Group (IPG) a week ago, said that he was wrong to join a political party in the first place.
His decision raised questions from Plaid Cymru leader Cllr Michael Williams, who said that Cllr Joseph unseated one of the "IPPGs leading lights" Anne Hughes, and had now decided to join the very same party.

But Cllr Joseph said he had no political aspirations or plans. He said:

 "My motivation for becoming a councillor was to try and do something for Milford.
"Although I stood as a member for Plaid, I didn't stand to further my own political agenda or to further Plaid Cymru in Milford Haven, I stood to do my bit for Milford.
"The fact that people voted for me as a Plaid candidate shouldn't make a difference, because they voted for me and I haven't changed in any way. I made a mistake at the start because I shouldn't have joined a political party."

 On August 9, the Pembrokeshire Herald reported that Cllr Joseph made the switch following 'lengthy negotiations' with senior members of the IPG and a promise of £20m for his patch.

But Cllr Joseph said that the £19,924,000 Vibrant and Viable Places grant had nothing to do with his decision.

He said: "That bid was made four weeks ago – long before I even considered joining the IPG group.

I was alternated to these news items  buy Boothroyd's Blog an invaluable  guide to change in the make up of local councils throughout the UK.