Labour councillor wants Andy Carter to resign seat

This comes after a Government letter was leaked that criticised the council's finances, with the council set to be in £2.3billion of debt by the end of 2026.

Responding to the leaked letter, the town's Conservative councillors have called for the resignation of both the council's leader, Cllr Russ Bowden, and the deputy leader, Cllr Cathy Mitchell.

Warrington's Conservatives called for the resignations of the council's Labour leaders (Image: Warrington Conservatives)

Cllr Mitchell is alleging that the confidential letter was leaked by the MP for Warrington South, Andy Carter.

The Labour councillor has now issued a call for the MP to resign, alongside his Conservative colleagues on the council.

Cllr Mitchell said: "The Government recently asked CIPFA [Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy] to engage with Warrington and other councils to look at our investments, our capital risk, as always we were happy to engage.

"We fully agreed with the review and supported it in full.

"We were recently sent in confidence the draft report, together with a political letter from the Conservative minister.

"The minister sent both in confidence, expressing that they were not to be shared without Government approval. The council has asked for the report to be released as we would like for it to be in the public domain."

Cllr Mitchell claims that the town's Conservative MP has breached standards of public office (Image: Warrington Borough Council)

Cllr Mitchell continued: "In their latest stunt, the Conservatives are using the leaked political letter (not the draft report) and therefore appearing to accept responsibility for the leak.

"The council has fully responded to the leaked letter.  

"It would seem that Andy Carter MP has leaked the letter to the Conservative Group, both in breach of a minister's direction and also in breach of the Nolan principles.

"The press release is once more littered with inaccuracies which would appear to fall below the standard expected of an elected member.

"Because of the failures and breaches set out above, I call upon Andy Carter MP, and the leader and deputy leader of the Conservative Group to resign."

Mr Carter has batted the call for his resignation away, with his office calling it 'ridiculous' (Image: Parliament TV)

When contacted for a response on this, Andy Carter’s office said he would not be responding to 'ridiculous calls for him to resign by Labour councillors responsible for Warrington Borough Council’s enormous levels of debt.'

Warrington Conservatives have failed to: offer an alternative budget, be straight with residents on their alternative, campaign for fairer funding, tackle the social care crisis, defend public services or simply fight for the interests of Warrington. They should all resign.

— Cllr Russ Bowden (@CllrRussBowden) October 26, 2023

Leader of Warrington's Conservative Group, Cllr Nigel Balding responded: "I expect to welcome the CIPFA report reviewing [the council's] debt/investment risk profile as soon as it is available.

"If the minister’s letter is anything to go by then I’m sure that the final report will provide much more detail about how to address the risky mess that the Labour leadership has brought us into.

"Councillors must decide whether they agree with me that this process must start with replacing the leader and deputy leader of the council.

"The leader and deputy leader’s comments are absurd.

"It is time that they started to take responsibility for the council’s failings including the high debt."