Flintshire County Council’s Independent Alliance Group
Historically, County Council structures were built around the expectation that all members would belong to one or other "Political Party." "Political Balance" is a legal requirement on all committees. That means that every committee MUST follow the same seating proportion as the main chamber. For instance, in a 100 seat authority, split 50, 30, 20 between three parties, any one of the committees, with ten members say, would be made up of 5,3, and 2 of whichever parties were involved. Also, there has to be a "recognised" official opposition, which is the second largest party. Executive positions and other chairmanships are appointed by the majority party. At the guidance of the Welsh Assembly Government, 2 of the present 6 Overview and Scrutiny Committee Chairs are also gifted to the Official Opposition.
The alliance of 26 independent councillors elected in May of 2008 formed the numerical backbone of the Coalition of those councillors, along with the Lib/Dems and Conservatives, that administered the county from 2008 until 2012, under my leadership. Regrettably, the inevitable personality clashes and perhaps a few instances of true political colours emerging, saw that alliance fragment into three factions after the May 2012 local government elections in Wales.
I remain a member of the original Independent Alliance Group, currently led by Cllr. Mike Peers. The Group presently numbers 14 members .Being the largest of the groups outside of the current Labour led administration, we form the Official Opposition.
Although it does not have an overall majority, the current Labour led administration has support from "The Independents," led by Cllr Tony Sharps and the "New Independents" led by Cllr. Patrick Heesom. Following on from the local government elections of 4th May, 2017, the present make-up of the 70-strong Flintshire County Council is:-
Labour = 34 Members
Independent Alliance = 14 Members
Conservatives = 6 Members
Liberal Democrats = 5 Members
Independents = 6 Members
New Independents = 5 Members
That pattern of party and group membership is unlikely to change dramatically, natural and unforeseen events aside, prior to the next set of local government elections, currently indicated as during 2022
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