Labour councillors undermining leader Bale, says deputy

Cardiff council's deputy leader has accused her Labour colleagues of undermining council leader Phil Bale.

Mr Bale was re-elected on Monday night by the Labour group, after an initial vote last week ended in a tie.

Earlier this year he struggled to get his budget through, and faced criticism from all sides of the authority.

Mr Bale's deputy, Sue Lent, told BBC Radio Wales on Tuesday that some Labour councillors had been using the media to undermine his leadership.

"The instability politically is worrying," she said.

"When Phil started off last year there were members of the previous cabinet who refused to serve under him and there's been a very public unravelling over the last year, lots of people within the Labour group going to the media and undermining his leadership in a very deliberate way because they had lost power.

"I think the most important thing within the Labour group is to accept that he is the leader, because we've had a whole year of people trying to undermine his leadership".

Her comments prompted another Cardiff Labour councillor, Ashley Govier, to comment on Twitter: "Normal service resumes."