FORMER county leader Nick Clarke is sceptical about the return of the committee structure next year.

Cambridgeshire County Council scrapped the cabinet system of governance at a historic meeting at Shire Hall on Tuesday.

But the former Leader of the Council claims this will have a damaging effect on the council’s effectiveness.

In his personal blog he said: “I fear that council meeting signalled a big shift in attitude from getting things done for the people of Cambridgeshire to focusing in on councillors and how they wield power.

“No one should be surprised by this as the minority parties smell blood.

“But it is a shame that a protest vote about immigration, which is a national issue, should derail an energetic and enthusiastic council that was gaining a national reputation for getting things done.

“But as they say, that’s democracy.”

Mr Clarke lost out to Liberal Democrat Councillor John Williams in the May 2 Cambridgeshire County Council election - a defeat he puts down to not living in his division,

He said: “Clearly living twelve miles from my division was an issue that I recognised might trip me up and clearly it did.

“John Williams, the successful candidate, included a map of where I live on his leaflets just in case someone might not know.”

Mr Clarke also reflected in his blog on his eventful stint in politics.

He said: “I fell into politics four years ago and have now fallen out. During that time I have tried to give 110 per cent effort and focused on getting stuff done rather than the internal processes of political life.

“This approach was well received by the business community and by the general public but not so well by opposition politicians.

“I wish the Conservatives all the best. In particular I wish Martin Curtis the very best of luck in his difficult task of running a minority executive.”