Cornwall councillors are set to attend an extraordinary meeting of the full council tomorrow to decide whether to support a motion to remove the council’s leader.

The meeting has just one item on its agenda – a motion from Conservative group leader Cllr Linda Taylor to remove Independent leader of the council Cllr Julian German.

Cllr Taylor had previously threatened to table the motion after calling for Cllr German to remove Cllr Adam Paynter as deputy leader of the council.

That request was made after the Liberal Democrats alleged that Cllr Paynter had brought the party into ‘disrepute’ after it was claimed he shared a confidential email sent to him by a colleague.

Cllr Paynter had been prevented from taking office as a Lib Dem and standing for election for the party for 12 months after an internal investigation.

However, he says that he remains a member of the party and has appealed the decision.

But after the announcement from the Lib Dems it was revealed that Cllr Paynter had shifted to the Independent group and would retain his position in the council’s cabinet.

Cllr Taylor wrote to Cllr German on March 22 asking him to remove Cllr Paynter from the cabinet.

In her letter, which was also sent to all councillors and key council officers, she said: “It should have been clear to you as leader of the council that retaining him in his position was sending out totally the wrong message about standards of acceptable behaviour in Cornwall Council. This has further been compounded by your group’s arrangements to pervert the course of natural justice.

“Your inaction has brought the council into disrepute.

“The Conservative group will not stand by and allow this to remain unchallenged even at this stage in the council’s life. There can be no mitigation for bad behaviour at the most senior levels of our council, however inconvenient the timing.

“The Conservative group have tabled a motion to remove you as leader of the cabinet if you continue to allow Cllr Paynter to remain in post.”

By Richard Whitehouse local democracy reporter