Our local Labour Town councillors were not prepared to endorse David Rutson as the new mayor of Harwich. Because of this, they gave apologies and did not attend mayor making. Dave Mcleod did attend as it was important that the retiring mayor was present and Labour had no wish to disrupt the mayor making ceremony.
It was the leader of the Community Representatives Party, Steven Henderson, who chose to make a highly political speech praising his own party and attacking Labour. This is, to our knowledge, the first occasion when mayor making has been used in a party political manner. Indeed, his own CRP councillors, Jacky Wares and Pat Burke, publicly criticised him for making a political event out of mayor making.
It should also be remembered that Steven Henderson and David Rutson refused to attend mayor making two years ago because the incoming mayor, John Thurlow, had left the CRP to join the Labour Party. No one at John’s mayor making sought to politicise the day by making reference to their boycott.
Your Labour councillors believe that anyone who aspires to the honour of being mayor of Harwich should promote and support Harwich at all times and should do nothing that might bring the office of the mayor into disrepute. Your local Labour councillors have remained faithful to those beliefs and regret that the Community Representatives Party, by their actions, do not appear to share those beliefs.