Cambridgeshire County Council’s Annual Meeting of the Council today (Tuesday, 20 May) has agreed the Liberal Democrats will lead the work of the council.
Following the elections earlier in the month, Full Council met today to decide on the appointments to all the key political roles – including the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council and all committee appointments for Chairs and Vice Chairs.
The first announcement, at the Annual Meeting held at New Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald, was that Cllr Lucy Nethsingha became Leader of the Council, and Cllr Lorna Dupré was announced as Deputy Leader of the Council.
Cllr Nethsingha reacted after the Full Council meeting, saying: “I am honoured to have been re-elected as Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council and to be forming an Administration. I am aware that this is a huge responsibility.
“I have now been a member of Cambridgeshire County Council for 16 years and those years have been a time of extraordinary change in local government, and extraordinary challenges. Over the last two decades the number of older people needing social care support has risen significantly and we also now have far more children with special needs and disabilities.
“Trying to improve the quality of our care, and of our infrastructure, while our budgets are under massive strain, is going to be difficult. But here in Cambridgeshire we have incredible council officers and wonderful communities. It is by working with and listening to them that we will be able to continue the improvements we have started.
“Over the past 4 years we worked with councillors from other parties in running the council, and we will continue to work with anyone we can and value good ideas from staff, from communities across Cambridgeshire and from successful councils across the Country, as we will need too if we are to continue to make things better.
“By listening to all those willing to help and to work with us, we will make sure our council continues to be more caring, better connected and that Cambridgeshire continues to be a wonderful environment for all to thrive.”
Full Council was live streamed on our YouTube channel and the papers are available on our website.
Roles confirmed at the Annual Meeting are as follows:
Chair of the Council Cllr Peter McDonald (Liberal Democrat Group) / Vice-Chair Cllr Tom Sanderson (Independent Group)
Strategy, Resources and Performance Committee – Chair Cllr Lucy Nethsingha (Lib Dem) and Vice-Chair Cllr Lorna Dupré (Lib Dem)
Service Committees – which will meet quarterly:
- Adults and Health – Chair Cllr Graham Wilson (Lib Dem) and Vice-Chair Cllr Luis Navarro (Lib Dem)
- Assets and Procurement – Chair Cllr Karen Young (Lib Dem) and Vice Chair Cllr Rory Clark (Lib Dem)
- Audit and Accounts – Chair Cllr Chris Boden (Conservative) and Vice Chair Cllr Peter Fane (Lib Dem)
- Children and Young People – Chair Cllr Edna Murphy (Lib Dem) and Vice-Chair Cllr Jonny Edge (Lib Dem)
- Communities, Social Mobility and Inclusion – Chair Cllr Alison Whelan (Lib Dem) and Vice-Chair Cllr Laurence Damary-Homan (Lib Dem)
- Environment and Green Investment – Chair Cllr Ros Hathorn (Lib Dem) and Vice-Chair Cllr Adam Bostanci (Lib Dem)
- Highways and Transport – Chair Cllr Alex Beckett (Lib Dem) and Vice Chair Cllr Robin Wyatt (Lib Dem).
All 61 seats on the council were up for election and the final results, declared at counts across the county on Friday, 2 May, saw the Liberal Democrats win 31 seats. The Conservatives won 10 seats, Reform UK won 10, Labour won 5, the Green Party won 3, and 2 seats were won by independent candidates.
Following the elections, Cambridgeshire County Council’s largest political group are the Liberal Democrats.
ENDS
