LOCAL Lib Dems are once fighting a damage limitation exercise with the shock news that Waverley Borough Council's leader has thrown in the towel. Chris Slyfield, who took over as leader of the Lib Dem group in May 2003, resigned this week, saying he was "fed up with secrecy". He said he believed the surprise announcement "would not damage the party". "Basically it means that somebody should come in before the general election to stamp their own mark on the party," he claimed. He told The Herald on Wednesday that his mind was made up when the party lost overall control when Waverley's mayor Victor Duckett quit the party and the Lib Dem group on Waverley in December. Several months earlier, another Lib Dem, Dr Penny Marriott, also resigned from the group. Originally made up of 28 Lib Dems and 27 Tories, Waverley was left with the balance of power held by the two independents. Mr Slyfield's stand-in is the current deputy leader, Gillian Ferguson. She will lead the council's decision-making executive until the election of a new leader on February 22. A statement was released by the Lib Dems on Monday in which Mr Slyfield spoke of "deep frustration with the climate of fear and relentless secrecy that has stood in the way of councillors getting on with the job we were elected to do". He revealed that he was reported to the Standards Board for England by Christine Pointer, Waverley's chief executive, for an alleged breach of the members' code of conduct, just before the borough council elections in 2003. He was cleared, but said: "The fear of further reports to the Standards Board has made it very difficult for leading councillors to tackle the secrecy culture at Waverley and press for more information to be in the public domain." Mr Slyfield said he had been reported after speaking out about the "the growing cost to council taxpayers of a multi-million deficit in the local authority pension scheme". He went on to criticise Conservative councillors for "their obsession with attacking individuals rather than providing constructive scrutiny of council business". The statement also expressed frustration "at obstacles placed in the way of his party's manifesto commitment to undertake a shake-up of Waverley's top management structure". He said he had felt "profoundly let down" by Mr Duckett's decision to quit the Lib Dems and accused him of breaking a pledge to support the Lib Dem group during his year as mayor. The statement said other events that brought the decision to resign as leader included obstacles put in the way of staff cuts to put more money into frontline services, disagreements over changes to the East Street scheme in Farnham and the rejection of a deal with developers over a key site in Godalming The prospective Tory parliamentary candidate for SW Surrey, Jeremy Hunt, said: "The fundamental problem is that Waverley has been run, not in the interests of local people, but to try to help the Liberal Democrats win the forthcoming parliamentary election." David Harmer, leader of Conservative group on the council, said the comment about personal attacks by the Tories was "rubbish". "I, too, detect an atmosphere of fear and relentless secrecy, but they are looking at the officers, and are looking in the wrong direction," he claimed. "I detect fear in the Lib Dems, and secrecy on behalf of some of the portfolio holders. "We find it very difficult to get information out of the executive. When you see a couple of Lib Dems going independent there are some difficult relationships going on." Mr Duckett replied to the claim that he had broken his word through a statement saying that he had fulfilled his oath as chairman of the council. "I have always understood in open and democratic government that decisions should not be predetermined before being openly debated in the council chamber. To do otherwise is not only unfair to the electorate, but also puts the council at risk." He said that as he had not had to use his casting vote during the year and that there are many councils operating very efficiently and effectively with no overall control. Mr Duckett said he failed to understand what had brought about Mr Slyfield's decision to resign "in the middle of taking important decisions on the budget". Tom Sleigh, prospective Labour parliamentary candidate for SW Surrey, said Mr Slyfield's decision was "a hammer blow" for the Lib Dems. Concerning the revelation that she had reported Mr Slyfield to the Standards Board, Christine Pointer said: "These matters are dealt with on a confidential basis, and I am disappointed that is has been put into the public domain in this way." She acknowledged the achievements of the former leader and looked forward to working with his successor.
