MAYOR Jenny Langston was jeered and heckled by councillors as she announced her refusal to stand as deputy at the end of her term of office.

The Tory mayor of Brighton and Hove was fiercely criticised by opposition councillors after telling them she was

turning her back on the

tradition to concentrate on trying to become an MP instead.

Her speech at a Brighton

and Hove Council meeting

was drowned out by cries

of "outrageous" and "disgraceful".

Accused

Several times she had to call councillors to order - the first time this has happened during a mayoral statement.

Labour councillors have accused Coun Langston of using her position as mayor to raise her profile and boost her chances of becoming an MP at the next election.

From now on, future Brighton and Hove mayors will have to agree to a new code of conduct to ensure they stay neutral.

The decision to introduce a code of conduct comes in the wake of Coun Langston's decision to stand as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Hove and Portslade at the next election.

Her choice provoked a row between the Tories and Labour, who discussed a move to oust

her from becoming deputy mayor next year, which is traditional.

The row came to a head when Coun Langston, the first ever Tory mayor of Brighton and Hove, announced her decision not to stand as deputy and concentrate on trying to become an MP instead.

Coun Langston said in her speech: "I was very disappointed that despite my successful efforts to maintain a non-political role as Mayor of Brighton and Hove, the role of mayor and that of

the deputy had become politicised.

"A number of reasons have been put forward for me not being deputy, I have been too popular, I would outshine the Mayor if I was to be deputy and so forth. The real reason of course is that I have been selected as prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservative party in Hove and Portslade.

Campaign

"It has been suggested that the role of deputy would give me a platform for my campaign. I have to tell council that I have no need to rely on the role of deputy mayor to provide me with this. I have a solid foundation on which to run a successful campaign to win the general election for Hove and Portslade.

"I hold fast to the view that the role of our mayor and indeed the deputy mayor should be above party politics, unfortunately, this was breached by the proposal to oust me. The public support given following the announcement has been overwhelming, yet sad that the civic role has been tainted in this way."

Although at first the Mayor was heard in silence, Labour councillors on the left of the semi-circular council chamber soon began to grumble about its content.

Their murmurings grew to heckles and several times she had to call councillors to order. Traditionally, the first citizen is heard in silence.

The heckling came from angry Labour councillors who shouted no decision had ever been made to appoint another deputy mayor. A deputy mayor was due to have been announced earlier this year but a decision was postponed until next month.

Former Brighton Mayor Ian Duncan

was astonished at the statement.

He said: "I have been a councillor for almost 20 years and I have never heard anything like it in my life.

"She was extremely ill advised to make the comments she did."

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