Well, what a month it has been! I was honoured to be re-elected as Wiltshire Councillor for The Lavingtons at the beginning of the month and I look forward to continuing my work to support our communities.
I have literally just come out of the first Full Council meeting since the elections in May. As you will have heard, the Liberal Democrats became the largest party in Wiltshire with the Conservatives a few seats behind them, followed by Reform, the Independents and Labour picking up the remaining seats. Today was the point at which all elected members came together to elect a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Leader of the Council (who then goes on to appoint their cabinet).
After a tied vote (via secret ballot) for Chairman, 48 voted for the Conservative nominee and the same number for the Liberal Democrats’ nominee, the casting vote saw Laura Mayes (Conservative) appointed as Chairman of Wiltshire Council. There then followed another secret ballot where Ruth Hopkinson (Liberal Democrat) was appointed as Vsoarice-Chairman of the council. Then came the all-important vote for the Leader of the Council which saw Ian Thorn (Liberal Democrats) voted in, beating Richard Clewer (Conservatives) by a wafer thin margin of just five votes.
The latter part of the meeting was fairly anti-climactic since Cllr Thorn had already publicly announced his Cabinet two weeks ago, which included an Independent councillor (Jon Hubbard) who gave his vote to the Liberal Democrats in exchange for a paid Cabinet position (so much for independence!).
Having had a chat with many returning and new councillors of all parties after the meeting, I am very pleased to see an administration formed so that the hard work of running the council can continue. I wish the new Leader and his Cabinet every success in their respective roles.
It has been an absolute pleasure to serve my community as your local Wiltshire Councillor since May 2021 and I look forward to working with many of you over the coming four years!
