Labour’s Paul Peacock appointed as executive leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council after shock election saw Conservatives lose majority

Conservatives have lost all leadership roles on a council, after a shocking election left the authority with no majority party.

Labour Leader Paul Peacock was appointed as executive leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council at its first full council meeting held yesterday (Tuesday).

He was nominated by newly-elected leader of Independents for Newark (IfN) Rowan Cozens, who said: “He is a man I have a great deal of respect for.”

Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, Keith Melton seconded the nomination and expressed his hope the council “can move forward in a positive way” under Labour leadership.

The three groups have formed an unofficial partnership, which was revealed in the meeting as they collaborated to take control of the council.

It comes after the shock results of the May elections, which saw no party hold a majority after the Conservatives gained only 14 of the 39 available seats, with the party leader David Lloyd losing his seat.

Labour took 11 seats, Independents for Newark eight seats, Liberal Democrats three, Newark and Sherwood District Independents two, and one unaligned independent.

Paul Peacock thanked his electorate for their votes which saw him re-elected, and for the support he received at the meeting.

He claimed the elections represented a “seismic change across the country” and newcomers IfN were a “breath of fresh air” for the council.

He appointed an interim cabinet, with himself as portfolio holder for strategy, performance and finance, Matthew Spoors as deputy leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council and portfolio holder for economic growth, Claire Penny as portfolio holder for organisational development and governance, Lee Brazier as portfolio holder for housing and health, and Paul Taylor as portfolio holder for cleaner, safer, greener.

The leader of the opposition, Rhona Holloway, was offered a seat on cabinet without portfolio.

Mr Peacock added: “I look forward to working with the Independents for Newark and Liberal Democrats.”

“The election was a call for change.

“My style of leadership will be less about me and more about us. We will restructure the council in a way that will inlcude all the councillors.”

He highlighted ideas for a larger cabinet, to reflect commitments to the environment, healthcare and leisure.

“This is an overused adage ‘the door is always open’, but I tell you tonight there is no door,” he added.

“I will share, I will listen and I will encourage councillor to contribute.”

Sue Saddington questioned the motives of the three groups — claiming IfN’s promise to ‘end party politics’ was not coming true and they were “propping up Labour and the three Liberals”.

She said: “Do you really think the people who voted for IfN knew they were voting for Labour? Because that is what has happened.

“We will scrutinse all your decisions and hold you to it.”

She also demanded an answer as to why Labour was seeking to incease the size of the cabinet, when Conservatives had made it as small as possible to avoid the extra allowances available to portfolio holders.

She warned that it could lead to unbudgeted expenses and council tax rises.

Paul Peacock responded with the claim that previous portfolio holders — including Rhona Holloway — had said their responsibilities were too big and the electorate felt too few people were making decisions with their money.

After the meeting, Keith Melton confirmed the Liberal Democrats’ co-operation with Labour and IfN.

He said: “We are three equal partners, not in number but in respect.

“We have been discussing for a few weeks things we want to do. There has been lots of agreement.

“We are looking forward to the partnership lasting for the four years, I am sure there will be disagreements between us, but the goodwill we have built up over the last few weeks is very positive.”

Rowan Cozens said: “As a grassroots group we are keen to uphold the wishes of the electorate.

“We are not calling [the partnership] anything at the moment, obviously it is the thing to do if we are going to meet the wishes of the electorate we have to talk to eachother.

“It is very evident that what people want is co-operation. They are fed up of bickering and party politics.

“We’ve extended the hand of friendship [to the Conservatives]. We’ve got a lot of respect for them and look forward to working with them in a postive way going forward.”

There were also successes earlier in the evening for the partnered groups as Labour’s Celia Brooks was appointed as chairman of the council, beating Penny Rainbow to the role.

With 19 votes to 13, Celia Brown took over the role from Sue Saddington. Irene Brown and Susan Crosby abstained from the vote.

Sue Saddington gave a speach as she left the role, sharing the highlights of her civic year, including the Platinum Jubilee, the Tour of Britain, the proclamation of King Charles III, her fundraising for the Children’s Bereavement Centre and repatriation of the Polish Presidents in exile.

She said: “It has been an absolute honour and priveledge to be at the centre of such a great civic year.”

Independents for Newark secured the position of vice-chairman, as Jean Hall was voted into the role over Conservative nominee Johno Lee.