Bedford’s Liberal Democrat group has accused the mayor of trying to “silence the public” after a list of proposed constitutional changes was circulated to councillors, suggesting tighter limits on petitions, public questions and councillor scrutiny.
While the mayor has said that “once again [cllr Vann has] chosen to spend his energy issuing political snipes,” rather than supporting their work to put “the Council on sound financial footing”.
The document, seen by the Bedford Independent, sets out 12 areas the mayor wants reviewed as part of an overhaul of the council’s constitution, which he says is outdated and excessively long at 764 pages.
It includes proposals to raise the petition threshold above 30 signatures, restrict councillors’ questions to agenda items only and review the £50,000 threshold for decisions that must be published as key decisions.
Mayor accused of trying to “stifle residents’ voices”
Liberal Democrat group leader, cllr Henry Vann, said the proposals would make it harder for the public to raise concerns and harder for councillors to ask questions on live issues affecting residents.
“I am horrified by this list. The Mayor wants to stifle residents’ voices with these suggestions.
“Some local petitions about issues that impact just a few houses are going to struggle to achieve more than 30 signatures, but they are a crucial tool for residents to ensure their voice is heard.
“The restrictions on questions is a blatant attempt to stifle scrutiny in a public forum,” he said.
Cllr Vann also criticised the proposal to revisit the £50,000 threshold for publicly accountable decisions. “To say that the limit on decisions that need to be publicly accounted for is too low at £50,000 is absolutely astonishing given the current financial crisis.”
He added that with the Government now providing exceptional financial support and inspectors in the council, “removing checks on his spending sprees is the last thing we should be considering”.
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“The Mayor must resign. I urge residents to sign the petition on our website calling for him to go,” he said.
Last month, the Lib Dems were the first to issue a petition calling on the mayor to resign. Shortly after their petition was published, cllr Doug McMurdo (Independent, Sharnbrook) and the Bedford Borough Green Party issued identical petitions.
- Read: Councillors launch joint petition calling for Bedford Borough mayor to resign
- Read: Bedford Borough councillors launch two more petitions calling for mayor’s resignation
A week later, Bedford Borough’s Labour Group issued a petition not just emphasising their lack of confidence in the mayor but also asking if Bedfordians wanted to abolish the elected mayoral position entirely.
Read: Labour councillors declare no confidence in Bedford mayor as opposition pressure grows
At the time of writing, it is not known how many people have signed the petitions.
Mayor aims to modernise, simplify and improve governance
Mayor Tom Wootton said the criticism was political “sniping”, insisting the review is about making the constitution clearer, shorter and easier to use while improving transparency and day-to-day efficiency.
“At a time when we are concentrating on the Best Value Inspection and putting the Council on sound financial footing, it is disappointing that cllr Vann has once again chosen to spend his energy issuing political snipes,” he said.
Read: What is a “best value” inspection – and why does it matter to Bedford?
“We are completely open that we want to modernise the Constitution. Our aim is to improve governance and transparency, while also making the Council run more smoothly day to day by removing outdated processes.
“Both local government expert Theresa Grant OBE and CIPFA agree the Constitution needs a thorough review.”
He said the suggested changes aim to shorten and simplify the 764-page document, make the petition process clearer, avoid unnecessary delays to non-key decisions and ensure council meetings prioritise the most important business.
“Whilst others continue to focus on playing party politics, we will continue to focus on residents and stabilising the Council finances,” he added.
The document outlines issues flagged for review, including raising the petition threshold, shortening motions, limiting councillor questions to agenda items, revisiting the £50,000 key decision threshold, changing call-in rules, reviewing the Code of Conduct and reorganising meeting agendas.
Ongoing constitutional debate
Concerns about the power of the directly elected mayor and the limits of council scrutiny were raised almost a year ago, when councillors were required to update part of the constitution to make it legally compliant with national legislation.
Read: Changes to Bedford Borough Council constitution will give mayor more power
The constitutional update follows a law introduced by the last Labour government in 2002 that limits the full council’s power to overturn executive decisions.
In March 2025, councillors across all parties warned that the law limiting the full council’s ability to overturn executive decisions was “deeply concerning for democracy” because councillors could only refer decisions back to the mayor rather than reverse them outright.
They argued the system weakened local democracy by allowing a minority-administration mayor to override the views of elected representatives.
Back in March, the constitution was amended to bring it into line with the law, stating that the full council cannot overrule the elected mayor’s decision.
Speaking at the time the constitution was changed to bring it in line with the law, cllr Graeme Coombes (Wixams and Wilstead), the leader of the Conservative Group, said the law must always prevail.
“…it does put an awful lot of power in one person’s hands…” he said, “The constitution must comply with the law, the law trumps the constitution”.
