Conwy council leader replaced by sacked councillor

Gareth Jones (left) lost a confidence vote after removing Sam Rowlands from his cabinet

The leader of Conwy council has been ousted - and replaced by a councillor he sacked from his cabinet.

Gareth Jones, an independent, was removed after a tied no-confidence motion was passed with a casting vote from the authority's chairman.

The vote was called after Mr Jones axed Conservative member Sam Rowlands from his cabinet, accusing him of holding talks with others about the leadership.

Mr Rowlands was then elected as the coalition cabinet's new head.

"Today is a difficult day," Mr Rowlands said.

"I have the utmost respect for Gareth. I never thought I would be standing in this chamber with a notice of motion which displays a loss of confidence in the leader.

"In many ways it's a sad day for this council.

• £630k on unused building

• 9.6% council tax hike

"The reason we are here today is through a culmination of issues that have manifested themselves in recent months and ended with the decision to remove me from cabinet.

"Whether this was a decision made alone or with one or two other cabinet members, I am truly left bewildered."

Defending his actions, Mr Jones told councillors that the new leader had been attempting to overthrow the council cabinet.

A special meeting of the full council took place on Monday at its Bodlondeb headquarters

A former Plaid Cymru member of the Welsh Assembly, Mr Jones had resigned from the party when he became the leader of council.

He was at the head of a coalition including Conservative, independent and former Plaid Cymru councillors.

"I was surprised and disappointed to find myself in this position of a threat to my leadership, I knew it was a direct consequence of my decision to sack Sam," Mr Jones told the meeting.

"That was the action any leader would take following such a significant breach of trust and loyalty not only to me but to his fellow cabinet colleagues, even within his own group."

Mr Jones said "politics and personal ambition has clearly taken over", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

After being elected as the new leader, defeating Plaid Cymru candidate Wyn Ellis Jones by 30 votes to 19, Mr Rowlands said he would not "promise the earth".

"I will dedicate myself to ensuring this council delivers what it says it wants to do," he said.