Liberal Democrats to lead Cambridgeshire County Council

The Liberal Democrats will lead the new administration at Cambridgeshire County Council.

The decision was made at the council’s Annual General Meeting on Tuesday.

Following the elections earlier in the month, full council met to decide on the appointments to all the key political roles – including the leader and deputy leader and all committee chairs and vice-chairs.

The first announcement at New Shire Hall was that Cllr Lucy Nethsingha was re-elected leader and Cllr Lorna Dupré her deputy.

Cllr Nethsingha said: “I am honoured to have been re-elected as leader 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 four 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 to 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.”

Other roles:

Chair: Peter McDonald (Liberal Democrat Group); Vice-chair Cllr Tom Sanderson (Independent Group).

Strategy, Resources and Performance Committee chair Cllr Lucy Nethsingha (Lib Dem); vice-chair Cllr Lorna Dupré (Lib Dem).

Service Committees

Adults and Health chair Cllr Graham Wilson (Lib Dem); vice-chair Cllr Luis Navarro (Lib Dem).

Assets and Procurement chair Cllr Karen Young (Lib Dem); vice chair Cllr Rory Clark (Lib Dem).

Audit and Accounts chair Cllr Chris Boden (Conservative); vice chair Cllr Peter Fane (Lib Dem).

Children and Young People chair Cllr Edna Murphy (Lib Dem); vice-chair Cllr Jonny Edge (Lib Dem).

Communities, Social Mobility and Inclusion chair Cllr Alison Whelan (Lib Dem); vice-chair Cllr Laurence Damary-Homan (Lib Dem).

Environment and Green Investment chair Cllr Ros Hathorn (Lib Dem); vice-chair Cllr Adam Bostanci (Lib Dem).

Highways and Transport chair Cllr Alex Beckett (Lib Dem); 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 May 2 saw the Liberal Democrats win 31 seats. The Conservatives won 10, Reform UK 10, Labour five, the Green Party three, and independent candidates two.

Following the elections, Cambridgeshire County Council’s largest political group are the Liberal Democrats.