Derby Mayor calls councillors 'mardy' - then demands end to name-calling

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Mardy is a common terms used in the north of England - it is commonly used to describe someone who is moody, sulky or stroppy

The new Derby Mayor issued a warning to councillors to stop name-calling in the council chamber - but earlier in the same meeting accused some of being “mardy” over his new role.

Councillor Alan Graves called for order from his fellow members several times during one of his first full council meetings as chair since becoming the city’s new mayor in May.

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Reform Derby councillor Graves was elected mayor instead of a Labour councillor at a lively public ceremony two months ago, which saw Labour councillors dramatically walk out in protest.

At one stage at last week’s meeting, the mayor took issue following a spat between the council leader Baggy Shanker and Conservative councillor Jonathan Smale.

The Labour leader responded to Cllr Smale’s questions about his recent cabinet appointments.

Cllr Shanker said: “I’m sure you will understand with all due respect, I am not going to take any lectures from you on appointing my cabinet. Just to remind you, you were the third-choice cabinet member for finance (under the Conservative administration).”

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Following the exchange, the mayor said: “Can I please remind members that we don’t start calling each other names. There is no point in it. It brings disrepute to this council and we should stop it.”

The meeting also saw the mayor call for quiet several times to allow the speaking councillor to air their views on a topic or answer a question without interruption or unnecessary distraction.

This is something he said he would do when speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service in May.

However, at the start of the proceedings, the mayor opted to repeat a speech he made at a previous council meeting for the benefit of councillors who did not hear it the first time around.

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During the speech, he made references to councillors being “mardy” in relation to his appointment as mayor two months ago at the mayor-making ceremony.

He said: “Your mardiness was noted and you left the chamber and did everybody a huge favour. You are quite within your rights to be mardy but I will not tolerate abusive behaviour.”

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