10:36am Thursday 19th November 2009
By Tom Moseley
THE leader of Lancashire County Council has sacked his education boss after just five months in the job.
Pat Case, one of the most senior members of the Conservative Group at County Hall, said she was ‘extremely sad and disappointed’ after being told of the decision by leader Geoff Driver.
The Chorley councillor had been named cabinet member for children and schools after the Tories swept to power in June’s local elections.
But the Lancashire Telegraph understands Coun Case, who has a reputation for being outspoken, has clashed with Coun Driver in recent weeks.
The fallout from the row over rural primary schools – in which a Labour MP obtained what she claimed was a “hit list” of schools under threat – was also a major factor.
Yesterday Coun Driver would not elaborate on a formal statement in which he thanked Coun Case for her efforts and announced her success-or, and former deputy, Lancaster councillor Susie Charles.
Coun Case, a former teacher who first became a councillor in 1977, was Tory group leader for 14 years and chaired the children’s scrutiny committee under the previous Labour administration.
Yesterday she told the Lancashire Telegraph: “Quite simply, the leader preferred her to me.
“He asked me to resign, and I refused. I did not want to be leader, and I am no threat to him.
"This was the only job I wanted. I am entirely loyal to my leader and my group.”
Coun Case was already planning to stand down from County Hall at the next election in four years’ time.
She is also at the centre of a standards board investigation at Chorley Council, where she is deputy leader, in relation to an email she sent describing some local Asian people as “bullies”.
This matter, which has not yet been resolved, was not said to be a significant reason for her dismissal.
Labour opposition group leader Jennifer Mein said: “I genuinely believe she has the best interests of children at heart, but I don’t agree with how she went about things.”
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