Cllr Mike Ross has been reappointed as council leader, Reform councillors made their first contributions, and Hull’s Labour group leader endorsed Andy Burnham to be PM
Hull City Council full council meeting on May 21, 2026(Image: LDR)
The Liberal Democrats will continue to run Hull City Council, it has now been confirmed. Local elections this month saw the Lib Dems lose majority control of the council.
The Lib Dems remain the largest party, with 26 councillors. They are followed by Labour on 16, Reform UK with 10, and five independents.
At the first full council meeting since the local elections, Cllr Mike Ross (Lib Dem – Beverley and Newland Ward) was re-elected as council leader, with Labour not opposing. The Lib Dems will run the council as a minority administration.
Cllr Ross was the only candidate put forward to be the council leader. He received 25 votes in his favour.
Fifteen councillors opposed and another 15 abstained, with Reform and independents opposing. The full council meeting also saw Cllr Ross call for Sir Keir Starmer to go as prime minister, Labour’s group leader endorse Andy Burnham as a replacement, and Reform councillors deliver their first contributions.
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“Hull is better, safer, cleaner, greener and increasingly more confident and united and ambitious, because it has a leader who cares and respects it,” said Cllr Jackie Dad (Lib Dem – Holderness), nominating Cllr Ross to be council leader. She argued he would continue “to fight for Hull, make difficult decisions and keep place and people at the heart of challenges and decisions”.
After his re-election by councillors as council leader, Cllr Ross delivered his annual address as leader. Within that, he referenced Ofsted’s recent rating of the council’s children’s services as ‘good’ overall and ‘outstanding’ in several aspects. “This is a report that the council has never seen in children’s services,” he said, referring to years of low ratings for it before.
The council leader also mentioned the recent announcement of Capital&Centric as the preferred lead development partner for Albion Square’s transformation. “They want to move quickly in the next few months and get it underway very quickly,” said Cllr Ross, who added that Capital&Centric had done “exceptional work” on other schemes elsewhere in the country.
Cllr Ross called for Sir Keir Starmer to go as prime minister. “I do think it’s time for a change at the top there,” he said, arguing the Government was “trying to survive on a day by day basis”, and this was harmful to communities like Hull.
Burnham endorsement
Labour group leader Cllr Daren Hale (St Andrews and Docklands) called for Starmer’s resignation on election night and confirmed it remained their position. He indicated the prime minister’s communications style was a major factor in the resignation call.
Cllr Hale said Hull had received under the current Government “some of the best financial settlements” it has had since around 2008. “It’s just a pity that very few people know about that because the Government, or the prime minister, is so terrible at trying to communicate that good news.”
He said the Labour group hoped Andy Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election and becomes prime minister. “I think what we need is people who speak for the north, people who speak for ordinary working class communities and we think Andy Burnham is better-placed to do that.”
Reform sets outs its stall
Reform UK‘s group leader Richard Kelly (Southcoates) set out his party’s stall for the year ahead in his combative leader’s speech. He spoke at length about council finances, stating the council had £780m borrowing and debt liabilities in recent accounts and in 2024/25, was paying £24.9m a year in interest on long-term borrowing.
“This is a council that’s completely out of control,” he argued, also highlighting the ballooning costs of Queens Gardens works. Cllr Kelly said council tax should be frozen and cuts made to diversity and inclusion.
He heavily emphasised, to responses of laughter, that Reform Mayor Luke Campbell has not increased council tax. The Mayor has the power to place a precept charge on council tax.
Cllr Kelly also said the Mayor had not brought in a tourism tax levy. Luke Campbell does not have the power to do this currently, but has ruled it out for future.
The meeting began with half an hour of cross-party tributes to Anita Harrison, a long-standing councillor who had represented the Lib Dems and more recently, Labour, who died earlier this month.
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