View Image

Derby has a new mayor inReform Derby councillor Alan Graves - but his election led to dramatic scenes within minutes involving a walkout by fuming councillors.

All the Labour councillors sensationally left the annual Derby City Council ceremony afterCouncillor Graves won by a just single vote to take on mayoral duties in Derby for the next 12 months. And there were shouts of disapproval from some members of the public too.

TheAlvaston North councillor beat Labour's Normanton councillor Balbir Sandhu 24-23 during the first part of the council's annual general meeting. Councillor Sandhu had previously served as the council's deputy mayor.

Read more:Alan Graves explains why he himself stormed out of vital meeting in November 2022

It means Cllr Graves will serve as Mayor of Derby and will no longer be leader of the Reform Derby group - the third-biggest political party in the city. Councillor Tim Prosser will lead the group moving forward, Cllr Graves told the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the mayor-making ceremony.

Following the election result earlier this month, Derby had the only six Reform UK councillors in the entire country - now one of them has become the mayor.

Watch a video of the walkout below:

Cllr Graves started his speech by referring to the walkout by Labour councillors. He said: "Well it's probably the emptiest I've ever seen it." He then admitted his election was "controversial".

He then went on to say: "Being the mayor is a privilege and I'm honoured to take up this role. I want the people of Derby and councillors to know that I will be fully representative of the city and exert an air of fairness in the chamber. Some of you will know that I have suffered abuse in this chamber and I am determined to eradicate any nastiness towards any member of the council.

"I hope I can set a new standard worthy of the council. Derby is special in so many ways. The history is interesting, we have an interesting football team, we have world-leading businesses and there is a huge amount of talent in our city. We have been a hung council for years, indicating the people of Derby want a variety of voices to influence our future. We as councillors should acknowledge and embrace that."

However Labour group leader Baggy Shanker said he was furious with the final vote. He claimed there was an agreement in place made last year with the then-city council leaders for Cllr Sandhu to serve as mayor for the coming political term following his year as deputy mayor to Councillor Robin Wood.

He said: "I feel for Cllr Balbir Sandhu - he's a true community champion. He's worked tirelessly for the community in Normanton and wider Derby for a number of years. He has served diligently as deputy mayor twice now and the agreement with Chris Poulter [and] Mick Barker last year was that we returned to the conventional way that the deputy mayor may the following year become the mayor.

"The Tories have completely gone back on their word. This isn't about being suitable for mayor - it is about securing allowances and special responsibility and that will be revealed [later in the meeting]."

It was also agreed for Conservative Allestree councillor Ged Potter to serve as deputy mayor for the next twelve months.

The Labour group in Derby is expected to take the leadership of the city council when the council's AGM continues later today (Wednesday, May 24).

Do you think it was right for the councillors to walk out? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more politics coverage:

• BBC 'making a mistake' over local radio cuts that will lead to shows being shared
• Derbyshire County Council says law forbids it from U-turn over ditching of local Luke Evans Bakery contract
• The Derbyshire councils spending thousands on chauffeured vehicles for mayors
• Labour leader Keir Starmer on Derby's poor quality rented housing
• Labour government would back Ashbourne clean air charging zone, if public support it