The tectonic plates start to shift for Albert Bore
Ten years ago the results of Labour leadership elections tended to seep out overnight through muffled telephone calls to trusted journalists. Now it’s all pretty immediate and out there for the world to see in an instant.
The events of the weekend pose a fairly straight question: is Sir Albert Bore a dead duck?
Clearly not, since he continues to enjoy the support of a clear majority of Labour councillors. I would, though, describe him as something of a wounded duck whose feathers have been ruffled.
Even on its own, the leadership election would have been interesting enough. But the rest of the Labour group’s annual meeting produced further indications that, as John Prescott would put it, the tectonic plates are beginning to shift away from Sir Albert’s 14-year hegemony.
Votes for scrutiny committee chairmanships did not entirely go Sir Albert’s way. Iain Cruise, seen as a Bore ally, was dumped as chair of the Economy and Jobs Scrutiny Committee in favour of Clancy supporter Zafar Iqbal. This means that three of the seven scrutiny chairmanships are now in the hands of the Clancy camp and these committees will, presumably, be able to delve into policy issues that may prove embarrassing for the council leadership.
