Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Conservative take-over of Moray Council rejected following stormy two-hour debate

Moray Council's Conservative group leader Tim Eagle.
Moray Council's Conservative group leader Tim Eagle.

A take-over of Moray Council by Conservatives has been binned after a divisive overhaul of the authority was rejected.

Opposition Tory councillors had proposed scrapping existing decision-making committees in favour of a single executive cabinet as part of a leadership bid.

Yesterday the new system was rejected following two hours of stormy discussions, which included accusations of councillors using “profanity” in contributions and repeated reminders for members to respect each other.

However, despite the vote only being on the cabinet model, the Conservatives have accepted the result also ends their current leadership aspirations.

Group leader Tim Eagle explained the proposals were not driven by political aspirations but were aimed at addressing concerns raised in a damning Accounts Commission report, which warned services had “significantly declined” over the last five years.

He said: “My group, and the independent councillors who shared this similar vision, are very much driven by the recent report, not just the recent report but those preceding it.

“They clearly highlighted the need for much greater strategic leadership within the council to drive much needed policies forwards and the changes required to bring the council into the 21st century in its governance model.

“This was not a power grab or a political ploy but a very real desire to see the council move forwards with the very difficult choices which lay ahead.”

Moray Council is currently running projects to review its leisure services and school estate as part of ambitious proposals to save money amid bleak financial projections.

The nine-strong Conservative group is now the largest in the chambers following the resignation of now-independent Amy Taylor from the SNP group.

Senior officials warned that implementing the cabinet system would take “two to three months” at a time budget proposals were being drawn up alongside the Covid-19 response.

Moray Council leader Graham Leadbitter. Picture by Jason Hedges.

Council leader Graham Leadbitter, co-leader of the SNP group, explained he had “no problem” to debate who should lead the council but warned the additional workload of implementing the cabinet model risked distracting staff.

He said: “I think the big problem is that it would put us in a holding pattern in the middle of a public health crisis with potentially a no-deal Brexit on the way.

“These are some of the most uncertain times the council has ever had to face.”

The nine Conservatives and independent councillors Derek Ross and Walter Wilson backed the cabinet system, Ms Taylor abstained, the remaining 13 members opposed the proposal.