Councillor quits Labour Party

Kevin McRoberts • Published 15 Dec 2011 08:00 12 Comments

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A LABOUR councillor has quit the party after being controversially rejected as a candidate for the 2012 local council elections.

Eddie Carrick this week resigned from the Clackmannanshire Council Labour Group, and has also left the Labour party after 36 years as a member.

He will now serve the rest of the term until the local government elections in May 2012 as an independent councillor.

Mr Carrick was one of two Labour councillors representing the Clackmannanshire West ward and, together with George Matchett, he had indicated that he wished to stand for re-election next year.

But the two sitting councillors faced a "surprise" challenge to be Labour's candidates in the West ward - and Mr Carrick lost out in a vote held by the party's local branch.

Now, should he feel he has sufficient support, Mr Carrick will seriously consider standing as an independent in next May's elections - against the Labour candidates.

Mr Carrick told the Advertiser, "I was very surprised that George and myself faced a challenger as I thought we were doing a good job.

"It's generally accepted that sitting councillors who are prepared to stand again do not face a challenge, so it came as a shock.

"I was only told the night before the vote took place that there was a challenger. It all happened within 24 hours.

"I'm annoyed, deeply upset and angry. I believe I've done a good job for the people of Menstrie and Tullibody over the past 10 years, and I was happy to put my record on the line and let the voters decide, but that's been taken away.

"After 36 years with the Labour party, that's the thanks I get."

Councillors Carrick and Matchett were challenged by party member Jim Stalker, and the local branch therefore voted to find out which two of the three would represent Labour at the election.

It's understood the vote involved just six people - with four voting for Mr Stalker, and Mr Carrick and Mr Matchett receiving one vote each. Mr Matchett then defeated Mr Carrick in a second vote.

Mr Carrick said, "I don't think Mr Stalker's decision to challenge George and myself was anything personal, but I don't believe he has any strong interest in the people of Tullibody and Menstrie - he's just looking for a seat."

Mr Carrick had been a Labour councillor in Clackmannanshire for 10 years, and previously served as a councillor in the Stirling area, being first elected in 1982.

Despite his resignation this week, council leader, Rev. Sam Ovens, has asked him to continue in his role as the council's sustainability portfolio holder, and Mr Carrick has agreed to do so.

However, his decision to quit the Labour group could have implications for the current ruling administration in the months leading up to the election.

Labour now have seven councillors, the same number as the SNP.

Mr Carrick said, "I'm keeping my options open. I am considering standing as an independent. It would mean the people of Tullibody and Menstrie would decide whether they wanted me to be their representative. If they didn't, I would be able to accept that.

"What I can't accept is the way I have been de-selected by the Labour party."

Rev. Sam Ovens paid tribute to Mr Carrick for his work as a councillor.

He said, "Eddie has made a greatly valued contribution to the well being of the county and I am pleased he has agreed to my wish that he continues to lead his portfolio.

"I very much regret that Eddie has taken this decision, but I want to personally put on record my thanks and to recognise the major role he has played in the county.

"Eddie was the lead in ensuring the new bridge was named after Clackmannanshire, and he played his part in the three new schools, the by-pass, the upgrading of Alloa town centre, the railway and the landscape partnership.

"I genuinely believe he has made a great contribution."

Mr Stalker also said he wished to pay tribute to Mr Carrick for his many years of loyal service as a Labour councillor in Clackmannanshire and Stirling.

Regarding his selction as a candidate, Mr Stalker added, "It is correct that I have been selected as one of the Labour Party candidates for Tullibody and Menstrie in the Local Government Elections in May 2012.

"The selection of candidates was an open democratic process organised according to Labour Party rules and I am delighted that I have been chosen to go forward with the trust and support of party members.

"No individual has the right to participate in the selection process without challenge, and the Labour Party in Scotland is keen to attract new candidates with new ideas.

"I was born and brought up in Clackmannanshrie and have been involved with many local groups and community projects.

"It would be a great honour to serve the people of Clackmannanshire, in particular the residents of Tullibody and Menstrie."

This article appeared in Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser 14 Dec 11

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

Granny23
4 posts
Dec 15, 08:17
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"It's understood the vote involved just six people - with four voting for Mr Stalker, and Mr Carrick and Mr Matchett receiving one vote each. Mr Matchett then defeated Mr Carrick in a second vote".

Says it all really about the state of the Labour Party.

Are there really only 6 members of the Labour Party in the whole of Clackmannanshire West?

Recommend? Yes 12 No 3
James1967
Unregistered User
Dec 15, 18:02
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Eddie Carrick deserved better than that! As a previously staunch labour supporter, I would hope the opposition now mount a serious challenge to that lot in power by calling for a vote of no-confidence in the labour led council. Unfortunately, honourable people like Sam Ovens would suffer too, but, what the hell, the lot in Holyrood have shown they're better at governing than the Motherwell Mafia ever were, whose to say they won't make a better job of running the council? If a challenge is mounted, Eddie should have the guts to bring the rest of his former colleagues down!

Recommend? Yes 15 No 4
Cocteau
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Dec 16, 00:28
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"It's generally accepted that sitting councillors who are prepared to stand again do not face a challenge". What absolute nonsense. There is never this assumption, nor should there be. Being a councillor is not and should not be a job for life! It's called democracy, Councillor Carrick, and it happens in a very small scale in local branches, where members are fully able to stand against incumbents, and this is all the more important where a complacency that the above quote demonstrates suggests that the local democratic processes can be taken for granted.

Whether it was 6 or 60 members attending the selection meeting is neither here nor there. Clearly Councillor Carrick assumed that by turning up he would win as those 6 members tugged at the forlock and ignored the merits of others. He lost and now he has taken his ball home, demonstrating his contempt for these democratic processes. The party is better off being represented by those don't assume they have a right to represent.

Recommend? Yes 10 No 11
Big G
Unregistered User
Dec 16, 10:23
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I guess he thought it was one of these jobs for life, I guess.

Recommend? Yes 5 No 6
James1967
Unregistered User
Dec 18, 12:03
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"He lost and now he has taken his ball home, demonstrating his contempt for these democratic processes" ... there is no democratic process in the labour party locally, it's the 'old boys' network. Ask a certain sitting councillor how he had to 'appeal' to become a councillor ... simply because the self-same 'democratic process' you mention, saw fit not to select him in the first place, but this was overturned by some faceless bureaucrat in Glasgow!

If Eddie Carrick is a politician at all, he'll now start voting with his conscience rather than through any sense of 'loyalty' to his former "colleagues" or indeed party would much prefer him to do! If anyone has shown contempt in this debacle, its the labour party and the very small cabal of innard powerbrokers!

If Eddie proves his mettle over the next 4 months or so, I for one would rather vote for an experienced politician than some aspiring has-been, Good Luck Eddie!

Recommend? Yes 14 No 6
Cocteau
Unregistered User
Dec 19, 21:00
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So, James1967, what about my point that councillors should never assume that they should face no challenge and should never assume that, once elected, it is a job for life. Clearly, from his quote, this is what Cllr Carrick believes, which is the main point I was making. Facing challenges and being pushed to ensure that you never rest easily on that large bed of laurels is one of the ingredients to ensure that both you, and local democracy do not stagnate. This is one of the problems with Clackmannanshire Council as it presently is.

Recommend? Yes 6 No 7
James1967
Unregistered User
Dec 20, 17:51
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If a councillor is doing a good job, then why bother electing an unknown? Better the devil you know & all that stuff!!

On the subject of "resting on laurels", we need look no further than Holyrood or Westminster and the shambles of a party labour has descended into. All I take from the Eddie Carrick debacle is that the old-boys network is alive & kicking in this county!

Recommend? Yes 8 No 2
george
Unregistered User
Dec 20, 18:21
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this result looks like it was decided before mr carrick even knew there was a challenge.

when you go up against someone it is because you think you can do a better job than the other guy.are there any official minutes?i would be interested to hear what mister stalker's argument was in favour of himself.

Recommend? Yes 7 No 2
Cocteau
Unregistered User
Dec 20, 23:48
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Before selection meetings it's the responsibility of candidates, whether incumbents or not, to canvass support and to get their support to the meeting. If you don't do so, because you assume that you will get re-selected as of right then whatever your status within the local party and however well you may have performed as a councillor there is a risk that the other candidates will have made an effort, or a greater effort than you, to get their support to the meeting.

And with regard to 'laurels' we are talking here about a local decision and a local, complacent and foolhardy assumption by Cllr Carrick, that having already been elected no-one else should ever stand against him so long as he wished to remain a councillor. No matter how well a councillor has performed assumptions and complacency always brings risks in any sphere.

Recommend? Yes 4 No 5
george
Unregistered User
Dec 21, 00:35
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sneaky and underhand.not worthy of

the public's vote.this will come back

to haunt the labour council.

Recommend? Yes 9 No 1
Warren peace
Unregistered User
Jan 3, 01:41
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Judging by the state of affairs in recent years of this council and state of the housing schemes within the Clackmannanshire area I didnt think we had any Councillors.

Perhaps its time to take a real look atw ahts happening and dont vote any of them in at all, if we all voted for Independant candidates who lived within the areas they were elected to represent Im sure we would see not the areas cleaned up a great deal.

What we see now is the streets that can be seen from the main roads cleaned and litter free while behind that everywhere has been left to look like a toilet.

As a former resident of fairyburn i was shocked to see how far downhill it has went in the last few years, Im sure the residents must complain to someone somewhere within the Authority after all the residents pay for what is a very basic requirement keeping the streets cleaned and free of litter.

Perhaps its time to look at who you vote for in your local elections and what they bring to your area.......

Recommend? Yes 2 No 1
Rayond
Unregistered User
Jan 4, 22:49
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I sense the hand of Labour HQ behind this - they are clearing out deadwood because they know they need to change. Although in saying that, if the best a local councillor can do after representing a ward for donkeys is to drum up 2 supporters, you have to ask about the work rate of the councillor.

I wonder how many of his constituents doors he knocked, or how many newsletters he has put out.....

Recommend? Yes 1 No 0

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