A ROW is brewing in the council chamber over the appointment of the next Mayor of Swindon.

Each year, the parties nominate one of their councillors to take the position of first deputy mayor before moving up to mayor.

The two positions are currently filled with Conservative councillors and the Labour Group believes it is their turn to name a candidate.

Labour says it follows the recent trend but the Conservatives believe they are keeping up with a tradition of the administration choosing the mayor for three of the four years of a period between elections.

Labour want veteran councillor Derique Montaut (Lab, Eldene, Liden and Park South) to take the role and believe with the move to electing the council by thirds, this tradition has changed.

It is thought the candidates being considered by the Tories are councillors Kevin Parry (Con, Covingham and Dorcan) and Maureen Penny (Con, Blunsdon and Highworth).

It has led to accusations of politicising the position to stop the longest serving councillor taking up the role.

Coun Jim Grant (Lab, Rodbourne Cheney), the leader of the opposition, said: “It is a shame that the Conservative Group are planning to renege on an agreed protocol for electing Swindon’s mayor.

“I have nothing against the Conservative candidates for mayor, I’m sure they work hard for their constituents and are diligent councillors, but between them they only have ten years of service on the council.

“Councillor Montaut has more than 30 years of service on the council. So to suggest this potential breaking of council protocol is anything other than a political move, which would politicise the office of the mayor, I think would be disingenuous.

“There is still time for the Conservative group to change their minds and not politicise the office of the mayor and I would urge them to do this.”

The current mayor is Andrew Bennett and the deputy is Eric Shaw.

In May, the deputy will move into the position of mayor to be replaced by the latest candidate.

Council leader David Renard (Con, Haydon Wick) says no decision has been made on the candidate for mayor but if a Conservative is selected it will follow protocol.

He said: “If you look back at all the mayors, it has always been the case that for three out of four years the administration has selected a mayor and the opposition has for one of those years.

“As last year’s mayor was Labour’s Teresa Paige the Conservative Group can chose again.

“Coun Montaut approached me to ask if we would allow him to be nominated and as it is up to the group I said I would consult with them.

“My understanding is there has been some interest from the Conservative Group so we will go from there.”

The decision on the mayor will be made at February’s full council meeting.

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THE role of the Mayor of Swindon is to act as an ambassador for the town at various functions.

Unlike some directly elected mayors, the incumbent does not have any direct powers and it is a non-political position.

Each mayor holds the position for a year before they are replaced by the deputy mayor.

Over the course of the term, the mayor will attend hundreds of events. 

Council leader David Renard said: “The position of mayor is incredibly important. 

"The mayor is the first citizen of Swindon and will represent the town at many important functions.

“Every year there are still hundreds of requests from charities, organisations and businesses for the mayor to come and visit so it remains incredibly popular with a lot of people.”

As well as making appearances, the mayor also selects three charities each year and will raise funds at various events.

It is also the job of the mayor to run council meetings.

Despite the non-political nature of the role, there has been controversies of the years.

Most notably, Nick Martin was forced to resign from the role in 2013 after making derogatory remarks about disabled people.