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Ten years ago this week the leader of the Lib Dem Group at Guildford Borough Council broke protocol to make an unprecedented leadership bid despite the Conservative victory at the recent GBC election…
First published on The Guildford Dragon NEWS on May 19, 2015.
The leader of the Conservative group at Guildford Borough Council (GBC) faced an unprecedented challenge to his appointment as council leader this evening (May 19).
Stephen Mansbridge (Ash South & Tongham) was challenged by the leader of the Liberal Democrat group, Caroline Reeves (Friary & St Nicolas).
Normally the protocol is that the opposition groups readily accede to the choice of the majority group on the council but this time, according to David Goodwin (Lib Dem, Onslow), their group felt that they had to “make a point.”
Their challenge was supported by the three Guildford Greenbelt Group members led by Susan Parker (Send) and the sole surviving Labour member Angela Gunning (Stoke).
Eventually, Cllr Mansbridge easily defeated the challenge by 31 votes to 12.
All the opposition councillors from the Lib Dem and GGG groups as well as the sole remaining Labour member, Angela Gunning, (Stoke) joined forces to support the challenge but two Tories abstained, Cllrs Jenny Wicks and Matthew Sarti who both represent Clandon & Horsley.
One Lib Dem member was heard to comment: “They would get lynched if they went back to their ward having voted for Mansbridge.” The two councillors themselves declined to comment.
Although it was clear from the outset that Cllr Mansbridge would win the vote, the challenge allowed a debate on his appointment. The council heard several voices of disquiet as well as those of support for his leadership.
Liz Hogger (Lib Dem, Effingham) proposing Cllr Reeves said: “The last year has been traumatic for this council. Under the leadership of Cllr Mansbridge we have seen a chaotic attempt to prepare a Draft Local Plan which was put out for consultation when it clearly wasn’t ready.
“In the last year too we have seen the criminal prosecution of the former lead councillor who was responsible for that Local Plan and who has now pleaded guilty to five charges. I think that the appointment of Monika Juneja to that role, and all that has followed since then, calls into question Cllr Mansbridge’s judgement and threatens to bring our council into disrepute.
“So I believe we now need a new council leader who will restore the reputation of this council for probity and will ensure that a sound Local Plan is brought forward that is fair to all the communities in this borough.
“If the Conservatives had proposed that new council leader this time the Liberal Democrats would have accepted that their majority gave them the right to propose that leader and we would have sought to work with them to correct the flaws in the previous Draft Local Plan. We regret that that has not happened and we therefore offer the council a different choice.”
Cllr Tony Rooth, (Con, Pilgrims), a former council leader unseated by Cllr Mansbridge in 2012, who has now been re-appointed to the Executive said: “Some of the debate both inside and outside this chamber has been unfortunately focussed upon personalities, and one personality in particular.
“As far as the issues that were raised in relation to the previous councillor Juneja, as I understand it, these related to her professional standing and her qualifications.
“But, as far as I can see, they are completely irrelevant to the governance and indeed the actions of this local authority. What your professional qualifications are for your job… are not relevant to the working of this borough council.
“As far as the Local Plan is concerned it is an extremely difficult issue for many people in this borough, those who need housing and perhaps those who don’t necessarily see the need.
“As a formal leader the council all I would say is that Cllr Mansbridge has led a very good administration and I have every confidence the next one will be too. And that is why I would support him.”
Susan Parker (GGG, Send) in her first contribution as a councillor at Millmead, said: “I think it significant that Cllr Mansbridge’s agenda for change was not supported by a very significant proportion of the electorate.
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David Roberts
May 19, 2025 at 10:43 pm
I’m not sure whether to thank The Dragon for triggering these unpleasant memories. I think I’m going to need therapy.
Where are they all now? Mr Mansbridge teamed up with his convicted deputy Monika Juneja in a failed and very expensive attempt to foist a directly elected mayor on Guildford. They finally left to found Fortitude Ltd, a company devoted to enabling developers to get round planning rules.
Lady Jenny Wicks retired in a cloud of Tory glory despite being to blame for a 2011 Countryside Report that first recommended ejecting most of Guildford’s villages from the Green Belt.
Lib Dem leader Caroline Reeves joined forces with Mr Mansbridge’s Tory successor, Paul Spooner, to complain about GGG councillor David Reeve exposing the truth about the council’s inflated housing need targets. Both she and Labour’s Angela Gunning enthusiastically betrayed their duty of opposition by voting for the Tories’ hated Local Plan in 2019 that has seen swathes of local countryside concreted over for no reason.
Liz Hogger, always a Lib Dem voice of reason: retired. Susan Parker, the visionary but abrasive founder of GGG, worn down by local bumbledom, also retired. The other characters mentioned here are politically too insignificant to remember.