Public row over Pride flag sees teenage council leader already under fire for 'crying off' to party
Opposition councillors have criticised the teenage interim leader of Warwickshire County Council for "crying off" after not getting his way about the Pride flag being flown at Shire Hall.
Reform UK's Cllr George Finch has taken less than a week to cause controversy at the helm of the local authority after telling chief executive Monica Fogarty to take down the banner which has been flying outside the council's headquarters during pride month.
Ms Fogarty refused to do so, with the flag only taken down at the end of June as was already planned.
An email from the chief exec published by The Telegraph to the 18-year-old said: "I am afraid I will not be taking the action that you are requesting."
The incident has since seen Reform's head of government efficiency Zia Yusuf weigh in accusing Ms Fogarty of "subversion of democracy" and acting like the "monarch of Warwickshire".
In a video shared on social media he said: "The CEO of Warwickshire council has said they will not follow the instructions of elected officials, and has effectively declared themselves the supreme ruler and monarch of Warwickshire.
"They're drawing huge salaries at your expense, and then refusing to carry out simple instructions given to them by the people you voted for. We've always known this was going on, but now, we have proof.
"The council leader instructed the chief executive of the council, the lead civil servants, to action the flag policy. The response he got was extraordinary: the unelected bureaucrat dictating terms to the duly elected representative of the people. While there are no tanks on the streets, this is a coup.
"I have some news for the CEO of Warwickshire council. You are not the monarch of Warwickshire. You are a public servant. The people voted for change, and your obstruction is nothing less than the subversion and sabotage of democracy."
But opposition parties have been quick to respond and criticise the actions of the teenage leader and his party just days after he took over from Cllr Rob Howard as his 41-day stint as leader came to an end.
Green group leader, Cllr Jonathan Chilvers said: "I'm proud to live in a country where leaders, let alone interim leaders, can't make a decision on a whim based on what they ate for breakfast that morning - that's what dictatorships are made of.
"If Warwickshire Reform's Cllr George Finch wants to make a decision he should go through cabinet in line with the democratic traditions of our country that protect us all.
"It's appalling that when he couldn't get what he wanted he cried off to his national party to get them to launch a full bloodied party political assault on a civil servant.
"If that's his interview for the top job he's just failed badly."
Upon taking interim charge of the council, Cllr Finch has asked locals and councillors to "judge me on what I do", not on his age.
Reacting to the interim leader's first public act in charge, Cllr Jerry Roodhouse, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group said: ''To criticise in public the Chief Executive of the county council - as several Reform councillors have done today - is not the action of responsible elected representatives'.
"The administration would do much better to focus on the critical issues that matter to residents, such as surrounding adult social care, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, environmental protection and highways project management.
"But if the distraction of flags really is the number one priority for the Reform group then they can find government guidance on flags is set out already.
"I hope that Conservative councillors will support, as they have done in the past, the action of the council's Chief Executive."
Warwickshire County Council has been approached for comment.
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