Jeff Edmunds was first elected to the County Council for Bigyn ward (Llanelli) in 2012 and is therefore unusual in being able to measure his career at the top in County Hall in years rather than decades.
Since becoming a councillor, Jeff has been a member of the Executive Board with responsibility for resources (that's money to you and me), and his style could not have been more different to that of Kevin Madge. Where Kevin waffled incoherently, Jeff Edmunds is known for giving clear, crisp and generally straight answers to questions.
His most striking contribution to date was when he spilled the beans on the terms of the controversial Marstons land deal, when it is alleged that Mark James intervened in the negotiation to award the Scarlets the bulk of the proceeds against the wishes of other senior officers.
It is understood that Jeff Edmunds released details of the extraordinary arrangement against the wishes of the chief executive who very much wanted to keep them under wraps.
His apparent willingness to stand up to Mr James may be part of the explanation for his victory yesterday, but to survive as leader of the council he will have to depend on the support of Mr James's political wing (Meryl, Pam & Co), so holding the coalition together while putting clear red water between Labour and Mr James will be difficult to put it mildly.
Jeff is sometimes known as the "Prince of Darkness". Whether this reflects his somewhat lugubrious style, mastery of the dark Machiavellian political arts or his enthusiasm for spiritualism is not known, but to anyone wishing to contact the dear departed in Llanelli, Jeff is a well-known operator of the ouija board.
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His victory will not go down well with all of his allies in the coalition, including the WI faction on the Independent benches and key players in the Ammanford Labour group. He may find it easier to communicate with the deceased than some of his colleagues and "friends".
4 comments:
Not exactly a safe seat in Bigyn compared to Madges majority. Another short lived leadership ?
Responsible for money?
Nearly 5% increase in community charge.
Increases in costs of school dinners, council rents and car parking charges and still keeping £120 million in reserves for a rainy day!
I understand that Higgins was the popular choice but refused to put his name in while the Lab Group are in coalition with the Inds.
Surely a Labour / Plaid coalition, allied with decisive moves to fully implement the WLGA recommendations, regaining control of the Council from officers, and a review of spending cuts would see off Meryl's bunch of Inds who have caused so much trouble for the Council and the people of Carmarthenshire.
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