- Councillor Claire Young, Liberal Democrat, and Councillor Ian Boulton, Labour, who will lead South Gloucestershire Council
SOUTH Gloucestershire Council has new leadership after the Conservatives lost their majority at the local elections.
The council’s Liberal Democrat and Labour groups, both of which made gains at the Tories’ expense on May 4, have agreed to work together to form a new administration.
Liberal Democrat group leader Claire Young is the new council leader, while Ian Boulton will be the council’s co-leader, having taken over as the Labour group’s leader following the retirement of Kingswood councillor Pat Rooney.
The roles, and those of cabinet members and shadow teams, were confirmed at the annual meeting of the council on May 24.
Councillor Young said: “I am delighted to take on the role of council leader and very pleased to announce this new cabinet, which delivers a broad range of experience across the council’s work areas.
“This is an excellent opportunity to put forward a new vision for South Gloucestershire and to help improve the lives of local people. We want to change the way decisions are made and work with residents and communities to ensure they are supportive of our plans.
“Our priorities include tackling the climate and nature emergency and helping residents with the cost of living crisis – both of these will be taken in to account with all decision making. We will also be focusing on improving lives of children and families, working with schools to address educational inequalities, and promoting age friendly communities. We will be developing a new local plan to protect South Gloucestershire from speculative development, working with health partners to improve the range of health services across the area and working with the West of England Combined Authority to identify improvements to bus services.’
The two groups had spent a fortnight ironing out details of a deal following the elections which saw the Tories lose their overall majority and therefore control of the council, which they have run for eight years..
While the Conservatives are still the largest party, with 23 seats in the chamber, the 20 Lib Dem and 17 Labour members combined take the two parties above the 31 votes needed to command a majority in the chamber.
The Conservative leader Sam Bromiley, who took on the role following the retirement from local politics at the elections of former council leader Toby Savage, was critical of the new leadership, calling it “a coalition destined to fail”.
He said the Tories’ offer of talks with the Lib Dems and Labour was “met by silence or refusal” and that the new coalition was “determined to shut out the views” of residents who voted for the Conservatives.
“There are so many unknowns to what the two groups have agreed that residents are left in the dark as to what will happen in the next four years.This is an agreement that neither we nor the public have seen. This is a coalition which is destined to fail, ” he said.
Cllr Bromiley said residents should not foot the bill for a proposed pay allowance for the “fabricated” role of co-leader.
Cllr Boulton said the’ comments were “obviously saddening” and that residents voted for change because many were upset that the former Tory administration “imposed” schemes on them without listening to their views.
“That is a lesson for this new administration to actively engage and listen to our residents,” he said.
“I’m surprised that the job title of co-leader has come up so much. I don’t know where that came from, to be honest – I will answer to anything I’m called. I’m obviously not as fussed about it as you are.”
He said there was “no great secret or controversy” in the partnership agreement which would be published soon.
• At the annual meeting, Cllr Mike Drew was elected chair of the council for the coming year and Cllr Franklin Owusu-Antwi vice chair.
Bitton and Oldland Common (two seats)
– CON HOLD x 2
Paul Hughes – Conservative – 899
Erica Williams – Conservative – 833
Darren Langley – Labour – 711
Peter Hallett – Green – 521
Kenton Boon – Liberal Democrats – 373
Sarah Freeman – Green – 361
Stanley Perry – Liberal Democrats – 288
Boyd Valley (two seats)
– LD GAIN FROM CON; CON HOLD
Marilyn Palmer – Liberal Democrats – 1316
Ben Stokes – Conservative – 1234
Steve Reade – Conservative – 1211
Neil Willmott – Liberal Democrats – 1130
Andy Banwell – Reform UK – 155
Emersons Green (three seats)
– LAB GAIN FROM CON x 2; CON HOLD
Katrina Al-Hassan – Labour – 1614
Rachael Hunt – Conservative – 1532
Ron Hardie – Labour – 1508
Sadik Al-Hassan – Labour – 1498
Colin Hunt – Conservative – 1482
Alka Mehta-Graham – Conservative – 1183
Sian Harris – Green – 876
Gabriela Miron – Liberal Democrats – 424
Susan Walker – Liberal Democrats – 324
Laurence Walker – Liberal Democrats – 306
Frenchay and Downend (three seats)
– LD GAIN FROM CON; CON HOLD x 2
Raj Kumar Sood – Liberal Democrats – 1994
Ben Burton – Conservative – 1780
Liz Brennan – Conservative – 1678
David Eldridge – Liberal Democrats – 1673
James Griffiths – Conservative – 1622
John Tansey – Liberal Democrats – 1487
Jacky Dockerty – Labour – 1034
Mike Richards – Labour – 1033
Andrew Smith – Labour – 858
Hanham (three seats)
– CON HOLD x 2; LAB GAIN FROM CON
June Bamford – Conservative – 1525
Brenda Langley – Conservative – 1455
April Begley – Labour – 1336
Matt Pitts – Conservative – 1314
Michael Newman – Labour – 1195
Kelly Allen – Green – 651
William Huddy – Green – 543
Daniel Johnston – Green – 385
John Gawn – Liberal Democrats – 275
Margaret Marshall – Liberal Democrats – 254
Patrick Thoyts – Liberal Democrats – 172
Kingswood (two seats)
– LAB HOLD x 2
Leigh Ingham – Labour – 901
Sean Rhodes – Labour – 848
Ken Dando – Conservative – 469
Jayashri Krishnesh Chandar – Conservative – 361
Susan Hope – Liberal Democrats – 202
Mark Poarch – Liberal Democrats – 193
Longwell Green (two seats)
– CON HOLD x 2
Carol Strange – Conservative – 1442
Kristopher Murphy – Conservative – 1170
Edward Allinson – Liberal Democrats – 906
Christine Price – Independent – 626
Crispin Allard – Liberal Democrats – 621
New Cheltenham (two seats)
– LAB HOLD x 2
Matt Palmer – Labour – 936
Sandie Davis – Labour – 907
Ian Adams – Conservative – 664
Gagan Singh – Conservative – 546
Ruth Davis – Liberal Democrats – 204
Richard Parkinson – Liberal Democrats – 152
Parkwall and Warmley (two seats)
– CON HOLD x 2
Elizabeth Bromiley – Conservative – 914
Sam Bromiley – Conservative – 890
Martin Farmer – Labour – 801
Kenneth Rabone – Labour – 699
Philippa Marsden – Liberal Democrats – 213
Hossein Pirooz – Liberal Democrats – 193
Staple Hill and Mangotsfield (three seats)
– LAB HOLD x 3
Ian Boulton – Labour – 2331
Michael Bell – Labour – 2153
Katie Cooper – Labour – 2014
Andy O’Hara – Conservative – 789
Andrew Shore – Conservative – 604
Anil Mishra – Conservative – 556
Andrew Daer – Liberal Democrats – 337
Brenda Allen – Liberal Democrats – 228
Gabrielle Davis – Liberal Democrats – 222
Woodstock (two seats)
– LAB HOLD x 2
Alison Evans – Labour – 1039
Ian Scott – Labour – 928
Jack Groenewald – Conservative – 545
Kamni Shambhu – Conservative – 477
Jim Corrigan – Liberal Democrats – 335
Tony Davis – Liberal Democrats – 209