Toppled council leader David Sheard took to social media to vent his anger at his successor and party members’ “lies”.
The veteran Heckmondwike councillor was ousted from the top job following a successful challenge to his authority at Kirklees Labour’s annual meeting.
Moments after losing the leadership by 19 votes to 13 he tweeted his frustration at colleagues who had said they would vote for him but did not, saying: “What really surprises me is how well so many people could lie within hours of the Group Meeting.”
And last night he attacked soon-to-be new leader Clr Shabir Pandor, who told the Examiner that Labour “should have done better in the local elections”.
After Clr Pandor highlighted the Examiner’s story on Twitter, Clr Sheard hit back and insinuated that his replacement had been underperforming in his role as a cabinet member.
Clr Sheard tweeted: “Perhaps if you had put some time in in your Cabinet Job you could have suggested different policies, or at least questioned.”
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This morning, a still angry Clr Sheard has taken to Twitter again to criticise Clr Pandor.
In a press release following his victory, Clr Pandor said he wanted to establish an “ethnically diverse” cabinet which was “balanced between men and women.”
The current cabinet is made up of five men and four women with Clr Pandor being the only non-white member.
Clr Sheard questioned the intention to fill the top jobs based on the colour of people’s skin.
He tweeted: “He wants a Cabinet based on ethnicity, I wanted a cabinet based on ability.”
Clr Sheard could not be reached this morning to expand on his comments.
