Dib Lemming

Tweet That’s the name of a Lib Dem blogger from Pembroke who seems to have gone rather quiet recently. But it’s a catchy title, it suits my purpose here, and, as they say, imitation is the sincerest from of flattery.

For almost a whole week, Carmarthenshire County Council actually contained one Lib Dem councillor. Indeed, the news reports actually suggested that the said councillor had taken his whole party into the coalition which is running the council.

But it turns out to be not as simple as that. After going to all the trouble of getting himself elected under his party’s banner, the county’s sole Lemming promptly signed up for membership of the ‘Independent’ group, and in doing so, effectively renounced his status as a Lib Dem. So the Lib Dems are not signatories to the coalition agreement after all - because they no longer have a group on the council. Every position awarded to the said councillor has been allocated on the basis of his status as a full member of the 'Independent' group.

I doubt that there’s any political grouping in any elected body anywhere in the world which has extinguished itself with quite such alacrity – anybody able to prove me wrong?

The electors in his ward must be wondering why on earth they bothered.