Council leader bullish on no-confidence vote chances

"you cannot use my age to dismiss what I'm doing - we're doing a good job. I still agree with the sentiment of that statement, but denied alienating staff and politicians. When you are new into an administration, when a company merges or many other issues and circumstances where you do have to butt heads sometimes."

"I am still 100% committed in doing everything I possibly can as leader of this council and it's about the emphasis on making sure that councils, not just in Warwickshire, but up and down this country, are member-led, not officer-led and I had to stamp my authority."

"Finch said his party would go into the vote with a strong notion that I am the man for the job, describing the vote as a cheap political stunt from the Greens. The council leader denied he had made mistakes during his tenure."

George Finch, appointed leader of Warwickshire County Council at age 19, faces a no-confidence vote scheduled for 17 March after Green Party councillors accused him of abusing his office and bringing the authority into disrepute. Finch defends his leadership, asserting his skills are underestimated and rejecting age-based criticism. He characterizes the vote as a political stunt and expresses confidence in surviving it. Finch denies making mistakes and disputes claims of alienating staff and politicians. He argues that establishing member-led rather than officer-led governance required asserting authority, comparing it to situations arising from organizational changes. Finch maintains 100% commitment to his role despite concerns about staff morale following controversial podcast remarks.

Read at www.bbc.com