Everyone in local government knows how important the relationship between the leader and the chief executive is. But it's not often that the public get an insight into the tensions that exist behind closed doors. Even colleagues may have no real idea as both parties have a vested interest in maintaining a united front in public. Well most of the time. Sometimes both use the local media to advance their position.
Over the summer it was rumoured that the chief executive was leaving, then the leader was thinking of stepping down and the chief executive was not leaving . It seems they called a truce and it was all smiles at the next cabinet meeting. All very confusing. For the moment at least everyone is on their best behaviour and fathoming out the best way to balance the budget.
