So, tonight sees a special meeting of Boston Borough Council to appoint a new leader after the not entirely unsurprising resignation of former Conservative leader Aaron Spencer a fortnight ago.

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But will we see him back in power after a six-strong cabal used the council’s own rules to demand an extraordinary general meeting to make an appointment – only the second such a meeting has been called in more than four years ... and only the first of those to seek to appoint a leader.

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As we said last week the Tories needed to have their ducks in a row between Councillor Spencer’s fall of a fortnight ago and tonight’s meeting to find another leader – and this is something they did last Tuesday

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We heard that an initial three-horse race whittled itself down to two and that the victor was Councillor Paul Skinner (pictured right).

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Councillor Skinner has been at Worst Street since 2015 and until his elevation this week was cabinet member for regulatory services and previously the town centre.

He is also Lincolnshire County Council’s representative for Boston’s Coastal Division – having served first between 2009 and 2013, and again since 2017.  He is also a member of Fishtoft Parish Council.

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Deputy leader Nigel Welton, who has been acting leader since Councillor Spencer stepped down, was quoted as saying: “I think Paul is an outstanding councillor.

“The depth of experience, knowledge and motivation he will bring to the council will put us in good stead for the future.”

“I’d like to thank Paul for putting himself forward for this honourable post. I will be honoured to serve under him and support him when he goes up for leader next Monday.”

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When his appointment was announced, we e-mailed our congratulations to Councillor Skinner and offered him the opportunity to pass on any comment he would like to share with our readers.

But our message was ignored.

Worrying?

Or worrying?

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In the normal way of things, the next logical step would be for Councillor Skinner to be a shoo-in at tonight’s extraordinary meeting – but not for the first time where Boston Borough Council is concerned, the waters are a little murky.

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Before the events of the last few weeks the Tories had a majority – and throughout most of last week the notoriously unreliable borough website – WorstWeb – informed us that the political composition of the council was: Conservative 16, Bostonian Independents Group 5, Independents 6, Labour 2, Unaligned 1

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But … another page listing councillors by political groups told a different story, with 14 definite Tories, one Tory-aligned Independent,  six ‘ordinary’ independents, five Boston BiGgers, two Labour councillors, and two ‘unspecified’ councillors.

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Of the latter two, one was said to be Councillor Mike Cooper, who quit the Tories after being sacked from the planning committee by Councillor Spencer – but re-joined the fold after Councillor Spencer quit.  
Even so, Worst Street left us wrongly informed for most of last week, and only put matters right just before the weekend.

The other is, of course, tonight’s Man of the Match, Councillor Spencer.

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The ‘current’ list now shows 15 Tories, one Tory-aligned Independent, six ‘ordinary’ independents, five Boston BiGgers, two Labour councillors, and one ‘unspecified’ councillor

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The secret six – whom we believe to be the five members of the Bostonian Independents Group and Councillor Spencer – clearly had a candidate in mind when they called for tonight’s meeting … which followed a rallying cry by the former leader asking for enough support to re-instate him as an Independent leader of the council.

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So – do we expect the nomination of Councillor Spencer by a group of ‘independents’ most of whom have previously sworn to demand that anyone who changes his party allegiance resigns and re-fights their seat at a by-election?

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Our instincts tell us that whilst Councillor Spencer may have got enough low-level support to force an extraordinary meeting of the council, when push comes to shove, things may not be alright on the night.

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Not everyone is expected to turn up to the meeting, and that may well include some Tories who are fans of Councillor Spencer, but not bold enough to attend and vote for him for fear of the consequences of going public.

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Then there are others, we are sure, who harbour their own leadership ambitions – and it is not beyond the realms of political possibility that Councillor Spencer might just have been cast in the role of cat’s paw to advance their own agenda. If we were him, we think we’d give the whole thing a miss!

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But if councillors fancy a Tory who – once at least harboured an independent streak – then Councillor Skinner could well be their man.

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Boston’s Eye’s archives found an item way back in August 2012, when Councillor Skinner sought election to Wyberton Parish Council.

Along with the three other candidates he stood as an independent – although the previous year he had tried unsuccessfully to win a seat at Worst Street on the Conservative ticket.

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Way back then we asked him whether this was because a declaration as a Conservative representative might be deemed to be counterproductive to the chance of success – to which he replied: “I believe at parish council level all should work for the benefit of the community. Party politics do not apply.”

He added: “Until I stood in the borough elections nobody knew which political party I favoured.”

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Perhaps embracing those ideas from parish to borough level might help him with the support he needs tonight.
And if he does could we suggest a spring clean of the cabinet as a good starter for ten?

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Whilst we’re not particularly superstitious, we recall some years ago suggesting that a certain former leader seemed to have uncanny ability to put a hex on things.

More than once, whenever he welcomed something or praised its success it seemed that not long afterwards the subject under discussion fell victim to some unexpected disaster.

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So we hope that the following items – one from Facebook and one from Twitter are not examples of a return to those uncanny old days … this time with our MP Matt Warman in the role of doom-monger.

Scarcely had the ink dried on this particular message, than Councillor Spencer was OUT ... both of office and the Conservatives.

Now, the following has appeared ...

After such an endorsement, we hope that Councillor Skinner keeps a weather eye open over his shoulder!

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Worst Street continues to offend in its attempts to wage war on littering and waste dumping.

We highlight some of their slightly off-key efforts last week and here’s another …

 

The item above appears on Worst Street’s Twitter page – and invites us to suspect people who offer to take our waste away.

“Don't be fooled by fly tippers. Someone offering to remove your rubbish cheaply is unlikely to have a licence and YOU will be responsible if your items are found dumped …”

The entry goes on to provide an incomplete link to the relevant website – which is the reason why it doesn’t work.

We can’t quite understand why someone who offers to take your rubbish away cheaply is a crook, as an “Upper Tier” waste carrier licence costs £195 +VAT and is valid for three years.

That works out at just £1.50p a week more than someone who doesn’t have a licence – so we can’t see why a licenced carrier would automatically be so much more expensive … even though the waste might be classed as commercial and attract extra charges.

What annoys us more than anything else is the Worst Street attitude that seeks to criminalise us, and now to suspect  ppeople who may well be perfectly honest for no good reason.

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