Council leader Cllr Mike Ross has reiterated his mantra that ‘we’re going to continue to be a listening council’
Lib Dems celebrating retaining leadership of Hull City Council, with council leader Cllr Mike Ross centre(Image: Hull Liberal Democrat Group)
The new make-up of Hull City Council ‘s cabinet, its most senior councillors in political charge of certain areas of council policy, has been confirmed. Following the local elections, the Liberal Democrats now run the council without a majority.
They are a minority administration. This means that while all cabinet positions are held by Lib Dem councillors, for key council meeting votes in the year ahead the Lib Dems will depend on other councillors at least not opposing their proposals.
The council’s cabinet has almost the same individuals as before the local elections, with the exception of Cllr Sarita Robinson (Holderness Ward). She will hold the portfolio for corporate services.
Read More: Liberal Democrats to continue to run Hull City Council.
The council’s cabinet now comprises:
- Cllr Mike Ross (Beverley and Newland Ward) – council leader
- Cllr Jackie Dad (Holderness), deputy council leader
- Cllr Linda Chambers (Drypool) – portfolio holder for adult services and public health
- Cllr Ted Dolman (Kingswood) – portfolio holder for communities and community safety
- Cllr Paul Drake-Davis (Beverley and Newland), portfolio holder for economic renewal, housing and organisational development
- Cllr Jack Haines (Boothferry), portfolio holder for communications and policy delivery
- Cllr Mark Ieronimo (Pickering), portfolio holder for transportation and highways
- Cllr Charles Quinn (Kingswood), portfolio holder for environment
- Cllr Sarita Robinson (Derringham), portfolio holder for corporate services
- Cllr Linda Tock (Holderness), portfolio holder for children’s services.
Commenting on the outcome of the recent local elections and the Lib Dems continuing to run the council, Cllr Ross said: “After a successful election result the Liberal Democrats will continue to run Hull City Council.
“We’re going to continue to fight to make Hull a better place to live and we’re going to continue to be a listening council. After Labour collapsed in Hull and won just one seat at the last election, the choice people have in Hull is clear.
“They can have a Reform UK politician who won’t deliver positive change or they can back this strong Lib Dem team, working hard for you and listening to what you think about our city.”
Reform overall won the most votes across Hull during the local elections, with 35.7 per cent of the vote. The Lib Dems got 31.8 per cent, Labour 17.5 per cent, the Greens 12.3 per cent, and the Conservatives 2.4 per cent.
This resulted in Reform winning 10 seats, with six gained off Labour and four from the Lib Dems. The Lib Dems also gained one councillor role off Labour.
Compared to four years ago, when the same councillor roles were last up for election, Labour’s share of the vote has fallen significantly. But so has the Lib Dems, who are down 12.5 per cent on their overall share of votes compared to 2022.
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Overall, the council now comprises 26 Lib Dem councillors, 16 for Labour, 10 for Reform, and five independents. The independents were previously a political group on the council, but have disbanded as a group, though still sit next to each other in the council chamber.
Because they are no longer a defined group, they are not entitled anymore to committee membership group proportionality rules. This is where membership of committees, such as the planning committee, are divided according to the proportion of councillors each political group has.
Cllr Gary Wareing (Independent – Orchard Park) did object at full council on Thursday, May 21, to the lack of independent representation on committees in the year ahead. But he received a short response from Cllr Dolman stating this is because they are no longer a group on the council.
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