Wrexham: Mayor decisions prolonged after meeting chaos

Wrexham's next Mayor is still undecided

A council meeting to decide the next mayor of Wrexham ended in debate around how transparent the process of deciding candidates is.

Just before the meeting, the deputy mayor and preferred candidate withdrew their candidacies.

Councillors argued that decisions made behind closed doors could damage public confidence in the council.

The candidates decided by the working group were voted on and a decision will be made privately.

Deputy mayor Paul Rogers is serving a three-month suspension from the council after he breached the code of conduct for his involvement in an incident on a bus outside Ysgol Tanyfron two years ago.

His candidacy was brought into question as councillors asked how he was selected in the first place.

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Labour councillors put forward two of their members for the roles, Stella Matthews and Krista Childs, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

This led to arguments about procedure, numerous points of order and accusations of personal attacks.

Officials had to intervene throughout the meeting as tensions rose to the surface.

Leader of the Plaid Cymru group, Marc Jones and Labour group leader Dana Davies both felt taking the decision back to the private working group would damage public confidence in the council.

The choice of mayor will now go back to the constitution working group where members will again try to agree on a candidate.