THE Liberal Democrats are in turmoil yet again this week, with the shock news that the Mayor of Waverley, Victor Duckett, has resigned from the party and the Lib Dem group on Waverley council. Mr Duckett's resignation after Waverley's meeting on Tuesday has left Waverley as a "hung" council, with no party in overall control. When Lib Dems took over power from the Conservatives in May 2003, the council was made up of 30 Lib Dem members and 27 Conservatives. But in September Dr Penny Marriott quit the Lib Dems and became an Independent. Mr Duckett's decision now leaves the two Independents holding the balance of power and with the potential ability to overturn committee decisions - the council being made up of 28 Liberal Democrats, 27 Conservatives and two Independents. A Waverley Borough Council statement has explained that the situation will have no immediate impact on the council's business, but that the leadership and political control of the council will be reviewed at a special council meeting on January 10. Mr Duckett, who is councillor for Farnham Upper Hale, declared his resignation in a formal letter to the chief executive after the meeting on Tuesday night. The statement read: "It is with great sadness that I have come to this decision. It would be fair to say that the difficulties I have had with the Liberal Democrats date back to my time as a town mayor of Farnham, and my ban as a town councillor by my local party for effectively four years. "As the town mayor I chose to make the Farnham Initiative more accountable due to a critical report by the Civic Trust, an independent organisation that was sponsored by the town and borough councils. "My ultimate crime was to vote for the person I thought would make a good and responsible town mayor, who happened to be from a different political party to myself. "At that time I chose to accept the punishment, even though I thought it was totally out of proportion with the perceived crime. "The recent treatment of my mayoress has again brought me on a collision course with the local Liberal Democrat hierarchy and I feel that I have no alternative but to resign from the Liberal Democrat group at Waverley and the Liberal Democrat Party nationally. "As the mayor I swore an oath to represent the borough council and its residents without recourse to politics. As an Independent member of the council, I can continue to do so even when my year as mayor has passed." Mr Duckett has since told The Herald: "It has been suggested to me by fellow members of the Liberal Democrats that the party comes first. Well, I don't agree with that. I think honesty and integrity comes first and not the party. "I am not necessarily going to vote with the Liberal Democrat group and I am not necessarily going to vote with the Conservative group. What I am going to do now is look at the situation and make my decision freely as an independent. "Neither party can automatically count on my support. I will use my own discretion when I make a decision, as will, I suppose, the other independent." Mr Duckett's decision has come in the wake of much unrest within the Liberal Democrat groups of Farnham Town Council and Waverley Borough Council that has also involved Mr Duckett's partner and current Mayoress of Farnham, Janet Maines, leaving the party and becoming an Independent member on Farnham Town Council. The prospective parliamentary candidate for the SW Surrey Conservatives, Jeremy Hunt, said: "This marks the end of a truly catastrophic year for the Liberal Democrat management of Waverley. . . I hope the Liberal Democrats start to realise that politics is about responsible administration and not just winning power at all costs."
