A prominent Shrewsbury councillor, sacked from his top job with Shropshire Council, has broken his silence with a stinging attack on his former boss. 
Councillor Peter Nutting said he had done nothing wrong other than privately expressing ‘strong views’ about council leader and fellow Tory Keith Barrow.
He claimed power was now in the hands of a few and called for a return to more open and democratic local government.
Councillor Barrow has declined to get involved in a public spat and said he simply wanted to work in the best interests of taxpayers.
The row blew up in December when Councillor Nutting, one of two deputy leaders on Conservative-controlled Shropshire Council, lost his cabinet seat.
He was forced further into the cold this month when he was replaced on a series of committees. The Copthorne member and former leader of the old borough council made no public comment although his sacking was seen as a reprisal for challenging Councillor Barrow’s authority.
But he has now gone public in a statement to the Chronicle, putting his side of the dispute.
He said: “I would like to assure the public that I have done absolutely nothing wrong other than express privately some strong views about the leadership of the new council.
“I am also disappointed that promises made to me and other Shrewsbury-based members about how major decisions affecting the centre of the county would be made have soon been forgotten.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that the constitution of the new council has concentrated power in the hands of the leader and a small number of senior officers through a scheme of delegations that I find unacceptable.”
Councillor Barrow said: “It’s a shame that Peter has chosen to publicly criticise the council like this, which I don’t feel is a very constructive way forward. He has lots of ability as a councillor and works very hard for the community, but I felt we needed different skills on the cabinet to deal with the challenging environment that we’re in. We’re working hard to develop an inclusive democratic process – we want to talk more openly, be more transparent and make sure we listen to the people.”
By Peter Johnson
