The leader of Warwick District Council has dismissed his predecessor's bid to oust him as a "sore" reaction to a Green-led cabinet "sorting out what he left behind".

Cllr Ian Davison faces a fight to stay in control on Wednesday (November 11) when a meeting of all councillors will debate and vote on a motion to depose him as leader.

It has been brought by Cllr Andrew Day, who led the authority until the May 2023 local elections, on the back of Labour's National Executive Committee ordering its councillors to withdraw from a power-sharing pact with the Greens over a national dispute related to policy on the Middle East.

Despite holding less than a third – 14 out of 44 – council seats, Cllr Davison has formed a smaller, all-Green cabinet to continue ruling the authority until the May 2027 elections.

Cllr Day is unhappy with how the Green-Labour split was handled by local councillors and expressed concerns over whether the Greens have the "calibre" in their ranks to lead decisions on budget setting, the South Warwickshire Local Plan and manage the ongoing process of local government reorganisation – something that will see the district abolished and replaced in 2029.

Cllr Davison hit back by claiming the concerns are nothing more than political point scoring, accusing the Conservative cabinet that went before the Greens of a "complacent culture" in which council staff lacked political direction.

"Andrew Day has been doing most of the complaining and it is not surprising given his position on the political spectrum," said Cllr Davison.

"I would say we have done a fantastic job sorting out what he left behind. No wonder he is sore on that and is trying to score political points. That's part of the game."

Asked to flesh out what he was alleging, Cllr Davison said his group had inherited "a complete nightmare" in relation to housing.

The council referred itself to the Regulator for Social Housing in 2024 over fire safety actions and condition surveys not being in place. An investigation found there was no adequate system for repairs and that the council did not record or respond to complaints effectively.

"We had to restructure," said Cllr Davison.

"Heads of service have gone, we have had lots of external reports to see the scale of the problem and we had to self-refer.

"To be fair, councillors from all parties are rallying round to improve that but it was a huge issue.

"I'd call it a complacent culture. To be a leader just to make grand statements doesn't actually run a good service, you have to look beneath the surface, ask good questions, probe and see what is going on. None of that was happening."

He also alleged major projects were not set up and that it was "quite staggering how little they were doing" with things progressing "largely despite the councillors rather than the councillors helping".

A dismayed Cllr Day said: "This isn't personal and I'm sorry Ian feels it is."

He said the previous council oversaw projects related to the Commonwealth Games, the response to Covid and "quite significant" budgetary changes but still managed to freeze the district's portion of council tax two years in a row and create "a first-rate" waste management system.

"We didn't shirk our responsibilities. We built more council houses than this council has, we had lower housing waiting lists than this council has," said Cllr Day.

"I think Ian is being defensive. I don't blame him for where he's at, what is at issue is not whether the Greens or the Tories have run good councils, it is about Ian's suitability to be leader given he will not unequivocally say that the Green motion on Zionism is unacceptable.

"It is antisemitic and he needs to stand up and say that if he is going to be consistent with the values of our council.

"He thought he could fudge that and now we face a situation where a non-elected executive of the Labour Party has decided we do not have an administration because Ian was not brave enough to go against his own party."

Cllr Day referenced a number of changes to national social housing policies in, particularly in the wake of Grenfell, but that the housing service was "highly rated".

He added that the creation of Milverton Homes enabled more council housing to be created through a separate entity that is not affected by right to buy, maintaining the council's housing stock.

"It is a very complex service and a squeaky wheel – there is always something to tidy up, fix, do better at," he concluded.

"Trying to blame that on an administration in office for four years is an incredibly unfair charge and one that was assessed in a peer review.

"You can always do more in any service area but you have to make tough choices around priorities, what do you do next rather than how much more do you do.

"What mattered to me is that we had more residents off the waiting lists. Was our paperwork as tidy? Obviously not but that was reviewed and systematic changes are being made which is the sign of a good governance system.

"It is never perfect but we focused on what was best for our residents. I stand by that track record."