Dudley councillor sacked for failing to attend meetings

Councillor Mike Attwood, who had been on the council for almost 16 years since June 2004, has been officially removed from his seat as he had not attended a meeting of the authority for six months.

Local Government Act rules state that “if a councillor fails throughout a period of six consecutive months from the date of his or her last attendance to attend any meeting of the authority he/she shall cease to be a member of the authority”.

Mr Attwood, who first became known on the political scene in Norton when he organised Party in the Park events in Mary Stevens Park, had been a Conservative councillor for most of his stint but in July 2018 he defected to the Labour Party saying he had become “disillusioned” with the Tories after various incidents within the Stourbridge Conservatives group.

At the time he blamed Government cuts and Theresa May's "weak and wobbly leadership" for shaping his view and he said: "Conservative-run Dudley Council is doing nothing to stand up for the people I represent."

He said he had got into politics “to make a difference” and he felt the only way to stand up for his constituents was to join the local Labour Party.

His switch in ideologies at the time helped Dudley Labour Group to seize back control of the council in September that year.

The Conservatives, however, grabbed back the reins in 2019 ahead of the December 2019 General Election where Mr Attwood, still a Labour councillor at the time - although not a fan of then party leader Jeremy Corbyn, was seen looking gleefully at the results as the Tories romped home to a national victory.

Mr Attwood declined to comment officially on the political picture at the time – simply saying he would be standing down at the next election which had been scheduled for May this year.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, however, the local elections have been put off until next year – with all councillors set to stand down this year now expected to continue serving until 2021.

Mr Attwood, of Stanley Road, Norton, who used to run the Stourbridge and Black Country Events company which put on community fun days across the borough, was the vice-chairman of the council’s appeals committee at one time and a member of the Norton, Pedmore, Stourbridge East and Wollaston and Stourbridge Town Community Forum but he has “ceased to be a councillor for the Norton ward by virtue of his absence” – official council documents show.

Dudley Council House

A vacancy for his seat is now advertising on Dudley Council’s website which states: “Mike Attwood last attended a meeting of the borough council on October 7, 2019, when he attended the full council meeting.

“Officers have undertaken thorough checks of attendance records and minutes of meetings. There is no record of Mike Attwood attending a meeting between October 7 2019 and April 7 2020.

“Within that period Council has not given its approval to any reason for failure to attend and therefore Mike Attwood ceased to be a councillor by virtue of Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972.”

Mr Attwood, who works five or six days a week as a car salesman, cited work commitments for preventing his attendance at council meetings held early this year, and he said he had been intending to attend a meeting of the appeals committee scheduled around the time the coronavirus crisis started to take hold but it was cancelled.

He said: "The Conservatives realised had that meeting taken place I wouldn't have fallen foul of the six-month rule and they cancelled the meeting so I had no way of staying on as a councillor. I had a letter saying you are no longer a councillor - which was not a very nice way to go but that's what happened."

Mr Attwood, aged 50, said he had intended to see out his term in office and he believes his departure was hastened due to sour relations with former Tory colleagues as a result of a complaint he submitted about the behaviour of fellow party members before he crossed sides to Labour.

A former chairman of the Friends of Mary Stevens Park, who helped to steer forward major revamp works in the park, said he would look back at his time on the council fondly, adding: "I've done my bit. I'm happy with what I've achieved. I've enjoyed most of it and I've done a lot for the local area."

But he said he would not miss the "petty games" behind the scenes, adding: "I never really went into it for the politics in the first place."

Cllr Patrick Harley - leader of Dudley Council

Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Conservative-led Dudley Council, said Mr Attwood had "ample opportunity to attend meetings". He said he was "not quite sure" why the appeals committee, which Cllr Attwood had been co-opted to attend, was cancelled - adding: "It could have been due to Covid or operational reasons.

"We had two council meetings within a week of each other – he could have attended either one and he would have still been on the council but he didn’t. Therefore under the six month rule he’s no longer a councillor."

He said there are "only five or six" full council meetings per year with the budget meeting in February being a key date in the calendar, which councillors are usually whipped by their party to attend. He told the News Mr Attwood had failed to carry out the basic duty of attending meetings and said: "It's quite sad when you have elected members who clearly have ability and they don't exercise it."

But he added: "I've got no sympathy for him whatsoever. He's been the architect of his own downfall."