Council leader to face no confidence vote

An extraordinary council meeting will be held to propose a motion of no confidence in the Conservative leader of West Northamptonshire Council.

It follows claims about Jonathan Nunn published in the magazine Private Eye.

He said he regretted a conviction for assault in 2004, but that allegations of more recent abuse were “unfounded”.

The meeting will be held at Northampton’s Guildhall on 9 May after Independent councillor Ian McCord submitted a request.

Mr McCord’s request received the support of eight West Northamptonshire councillors in total and both the Labour group and Liberal Democrats have stated their support for the motion on social media.

A statement on Mr McCord’s website read: “All members can express their view with this motion, support or oppose, pass the motion or defeat the motion, the matter needs to be resolved.”

A simple majority is needed to pass the vote of no confidence, but even if it is passed, it does not have any binding legal effect.The agenda for the extraordinary meeting will be published on the council’s website.

Ian McCord was previously a member of the Conservative Party but now sits as an Independent

Mr Nunn has said publicly that he received a community order following a conviction for assault 20 years ago.

He has said: “Domestic abuse is never acceptable and I regret my past mistakes.

“This past behaviour is not something I am proud of, and in the many years that have since passed I have worked hard to make up for the past by trying to contribute something positive.”

He said he believed an individual was seeking to discredit him and “this has included unfounded accusations of abuse through emails sent to many people and now to the media”.

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