A conservative will chair the Local Government Association for the first time after the gains made by the party in last week’s local elections.
Tory councillors nominated Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, leader of Kent County Council and current LGA vice-chair, and this was not opposed.

By convention the LGA, which was founded six years ago, selects its chair from the party with the most seats in local government.

The Conservative Party now has very slightly more councillors across the country than Labour, which has chaired the LGA since 1996. Conservatives hold 35.8% of the country’s council seats, up from 34.4%, while Labour has 34.9%, down from 37.8%.

The Liberal Democrats now hold 21.8 % of seats – up from 20.7% – and independent councillors represent 7.5% of councillors in the country.

An LGA spokesperson said: “The Tories are now the party with the most councillors and that’ll be reflected in the decisions the executive committees make.

“But the majority is slight and the association remains a cross-party organisation with no single party in overall control.”

The new chair will be ratified at the LGA’s general assembly on 5 July. The current chair, Sir Jeremy Beecham, will continue in the role until then.

Source

Housing Today