HFM News reports that the Conservatives have seized control of Harborough District Council this evening:
A motion to remove Liberal Democrat leader Phil Knowles and replace him with Tory group leader Simon Whelband was approved by 17 votes to 16 at an extraordinary council meeting tonight.
Councillor Knowles had led a 16-strong coalition of Liberal Democrat, Labour, Green and independent councillors since 2023, although that number fell to 15 last week following the death of Labour councillor David Gair, who represented Lutterworth.
As Phil Knowles has been saying in recent weeks, with investment in leisure centres and a community grant scheme, this coalition has achieved more than the Tories did in 20 years before it.
And HFM News has another story today that shows what Tory control can mean:
A company owned by Harborough District Council is set to be shut down after making losses of more than £800,000 over two years.
Harborough District Commercial Services was set up in 2019 and purchased two retail units in Market Harborough town centre, currently occupied by Sports Direct and Tesco, along with flats above.
The intention was for the arms-length company to invest in further property to generate income for the authority, but no further purchases were made.
The ruling coalition group at the council says the company, established before it took control of the authority, has been a "complete white elephant."
Am I being wise after the event? No this is what I wrote when the company was set up:
I am all in favour of municipal enterprise and councils having their own income streams. But they are being rather driven to these sort of speculations because of the savage cuts in central government funding.
Some councils are going to come a cropper doing this, and I hope Harborough isn't one of them.
Compared to some councils we got off lightly, but this episode doesn't make me feel any happier about the return of Harborough Tories.
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