Dominic Beck quits cabinet role following 'deselection' by Labour

The Wales ward RMBC member cited “a number of changes to my personal circumstances” as he resigned last Wednesday (17).

Cllr Beck was chosen as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Rother Valley in late 2022 – before withdrawing weeks later, citing “press coverage and concern” relating to him being part of the 2015 cabinet which resigned en masse following the Casey report into CSE failings at the council.

He has since been told by the party that he will not be selected to defend his RMBC seat when the local elections take place next May.

In his cabinet resignation letter, Cllr Beck said he had always kept the best interests of residents and RMBC at heart.

He added: “I will continue to represent the Wales ward until the May 2024 elections with the same level of enthusiasm and passion as ever.

“Representing the community I live and have grown up in is ultimately why I came into local politics and has always been a labour of love.

“I am looking forward to being able to dedicate even more of my time to this in the coming months.”

Council leader Cllr Chris Read praised Cllr Beck for his roles in getting more council homes built and starting to bring household waste recycling centres back in-house to improve staff wages.

Cllr Read told him: “Whether the task has been building flood defences, improving roads or working hard behind the scenes, your calm, methodical, determined approach has proved its value.

“Politics can be a tough business but over the last year you have conducted yourself with dignity and stoicism.

“It is a shame that the same cannot be said of some of your critics. You have done far more to improve the lives of Rotherham people than many of them could ever hope to.”

Opposition leader Cllr Simon Ball said: “Many questions come about from the deselection of this cabinet member and now resignation.

“Labour needs to urgently answer what information it knows about Cllr Beck that first forced his deselection and has now led to his resignation from cabinet.

“What do they know now that is a concern, when they’ve said back in 2016 there was no concern about Cllr Beck? And what does it say about the choices the council leader and also the parliamentary candidate are making when they continually back people with CSE links?”