Stockport council has a new leader - as Lib Dems take reins following crunch town hall vote

Stockport council has a new leader - and a new administration - after Liberal Democrat leader councillor Mark Hunter emerged victorious from a crunch town hall vote. Coun Hunter defeated Labour’s Coun Elise Wilson by 31 votes to 25 to put his group back at the helm for the first time since 2016.

The vote came two weeks after the local elections again left the authority under no overall control - albeit the Lib Dems remained the largest group, increasing their number from 26 to 28 thanks to two gains at the Tories expense.

Labour held on to the reins last year - despite having one councillor fewer than the Lib Dems - effectively due to the Conservatives refusing to oust Coun Wilson before the end of her term. It is thought that decision stung the Tories at the ballot box though, and the group - now reduced to five - abstained, along with the Greens.

READ MORE:Labour and Lib Dems in showdown vote for control of Stockport council

The trio of Heald Green Independent Ratepayers voted for Coun Hunter - handing his group the keys to the town hall. Accepting the leadership, Coun Hunter told the meeting it was a ‘humbling experience’ to be entrusted to the role and one for which he was grateful.

He struck a conciliatory tone, telling members he would ‘attempt to run the council by consensus’ and his door would ‘always be open to new ideas’. Speaking after the vote, he nodded to the cost of living crisis and recovery from the pandemic. “It’s a big, big job we are taking on,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“I don’t underestimate the challenge - the circumstances out there are very very challenging.”

Coun Wilson said it had been her ‘absolute honour to serve the people of Stockport’ and she was ‘incredibly proud’ of