Following questions from opposition councillors during Bedford Borough Council’s extraordinary East West Rail meeting, Mayor Tom Wootton has said he was advised not to take part in the debate because the proposed route crosses land connected to his family.
The mayor was absent from Wednesday evening’s meeting, which saw councillors unanimously approve an amended council response to East West Rail’s latest non-statutory consultation.
During the meeting, deputy mayor cllr Jim Weir told councillors that Mayor Wootton had both a local and pecuniary interest in the project and therefore could not participate in the discussion.
“The mayor isn’t here because he has both a local and a pecuniary interest in East West Rail,” cllr Weir said.
“So he cannot be here to take part in tonight’s discussion.”
A pecuniary interest is a financial interest that could potentially benefit or affect a councillor personally, their business interests, property, employment or finances, and councils require such interests to be formally declared to avoid conflicts of interest in decision-making.
Council questions
The declaration prompted immediate questions from opposition councillors, who highlighted the mayor’s long-standing involvement in East West Rail discussions during his three years in office.
Liberal Democrat councillor Christine McHugh (Goldington) described the mayor’s absence as a “great shame”, noting that opposition to East West Rail had been “a main plank” of his election campaign.
“And throughout the last three years he has led the relationship between Bedford Borough Council and East West Rail,” she said.
“And indeed he signed off the £40,000 for a study into alternative routes.”
Cllr McHugh also questioned whether the mayor had helped shape the council’s position on East West Rail and its consultation response.
Responding, portfolio holder for environment councillor Nicola Gribble (Independent, Renhold and Ravensden) said: “Mayor Tom has had little input, the main input has been from officers and portfolio holders, so no, he hasn’t.”
Later in the debate, Liberal Democrat group leader cllr Henry Vann said he was “astonished” by the revelation.
“I don’t think [it] necessarily helps the fact that the mayor isn’t here this evening, and has led and steered and invested £40,000 in a consultant’s report and had huge influence over the council’s position on East West Rail,” he said.
“And we’ve just heard now that there is a local and a pecuniary interest in that matter, which I was astonished to hear.”
The nature of the interest was not discussed during the meeting.
Mayor responds
Mayor Wootton has now told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he had been advised not to attend because the proposed East West Rail route crosses land connected to his family.
He said he did not want that to become “a distraction” during a debate which should “rightly focus on the homes facing demolition” and the “wider disruption the scheme could cause in Bedford”.
The mayor’s comments are the first public explanation of the interest since it was disclosed during the council meeting.
Read: Third cabinet resignation sparks questions over mayor’s East West Rail interest
The explanation has done little to calm concerns among opposition councillors.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Bedford Green Party councillors said they had been concerned “for some time” that the mayor may have had an undeclared pecuniary interest connected to East West Rail, but had not felt able to raise the issue publicly without evidence.
The group said: “At Wednesday’s council meeting, deputy mayor Jim Weir revealed that the mayor had a pecuniary interest in East West Rail, yet the council constitution is clear: ‘A member of the executive who has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a matter must not exercise executive functions in relation to that matter’.
“We are deeply worried that he was convening the ‘Mayoral Public Meetings’ about EWR and meeting with the Rail Minister while he had an undeclared pecuniary interest.”
The Greens added: “Wootton has done irreparable damage to the office of mayor. We need a clean start with a more collegiate form of governance for Bedford Borough.”
Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors have also called for further answers following the disclosure.
A spokesperson for Bedford Borough Labour Group said the issue added to growing concerns about governance at the council and repeated the group’s call for allegations surrounding the administration to be investigated through the council’s standards processes.
The group said: “The Mayor cannot continue in post with such a reduced Executive Cabinet. Allegations of unethical and corrupt behaviour are extremely serious and must be fully investigated by the Standards Committee as a matter of urgency.”
Liberal Democrat leader cllr Henry Vann said the latest developments reinforced concerns his group had been raising for some time.
“The Mayor’s ship is sinking,” he said.
The Liberal Democrats were the first to call for the mayor to resign, arguing the administration has become increasingly unstable following a series of cabinet resignations.
Read: Councillors launch joint petition calling for Bedford Borough mayor to resign
Recent controversy
The East West Rail interest has already become a significant political issue following the resignation of former cabinet member cllr Sarah Gallagher.
Read: Councillor resigns over “unethical and corrupt behaviour” on Borough Council executive
As previously reported by the Bedford Independent, cllr Gallagher resigned from the mayor’s cabinet last week, becoming the third cabinet member to step down in less than two weeks.
In her resignation letter, she wrote, “Whilst I knew you had a Local Interest in EWR, I did not know you had a Pecuniary Interest.”
The issue was one of several concerns raised in the letter, alongside criticisms of decision-making processes and communication within the administration.
The resignations of councillors Robert Rigby, Phillippa Martin-Moran-Bryant and Sarah Gallagher have all intensified political pressure on the mayor in recent weeks, while opposition parties have previously launched multiple petitions calling for his resignation.
- Read: Respected senior councillor quits Mayor Wootton’s cabinet with immediate effect
- Read: Second senior councillor quits Mayor Wootton’s cabinet in days
For now, however, attention appears to be shifting towards questions over the mayor’s role in East West Rail discussions and whether further clarification will be provided about the nature of the declared interest.
By John Guinn, Local Democracy Reporter and
Paul Hutchinson, Bedford Independent
