Tribute paid as fire boss stands down
FIRST-EVER FEMALE CHAIRMAN QUITS AND WILL NOT STAND IN MAY COUNCIL ELECTIONS
ONE of Kirklees’s best-known councillors and the first-ever female chairman of West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority is to stand down.
Judith Hughes, who represents Almondbury for the Labour Party, will not contest the ward now in the forthcoming May elections.
Clr Hughes was elected to Kirklees Council in 2011 and is best known for representing the Greenhead ward before being dramatically deselected in 2014 in favour of Carole Pattison.
However, she soon bounced back and was elected against the odds in Almondbury the following year in what had been a Lib Dem stronghold.
She was all set to stand again this year and had a four-page glossy leaflet produced which was posted through Almondbury letter boxes but has now changed her mind, though it’s unclear why.
Clr Hughes said: “I decided to stand down after thinking about it for a long time to pursue other opportunities and spend more time with my family.”
She said she did not know who would be selected to stand in her place. Former Kirklees Council leader David Sheard paid tribute to her, saying she had been a valued colleague and her input would be missed.
And senior councillor Andrew Cooper, who represents the neighbouring Newsome ward for the Greens, said he wished her well in the future.
Chief fire officer John Roberts said: “We thank Judith Hughes for her dedicated commitment to the Fire and Rescue Authority over many years.
“She has vigilantly and professionally carried out the role with integrity, driven by a genuine desire to make West Yorkshire a safer place for communities and to provide firefighters with the best of equipment and working conditions to carry out the job as safely as possible.
“She will be a sad loss to the Fire and Rescue Authority and the Fire Service
I want to pursue other opportunities and spend more time with my
family
alike, but we hope she enjoys her future endeavours and the opportunity to spend more time with her family.”
The top position on the fire authority when she was elected in 2014 included a special responsibility allowance of £19,007 on top of a basic allowance of £3,445.
It is the fourth largest metropolitan fire and rescue authority in the country and meant she had legal responsibility for budgets, policy and staffing of the service.
Clr Hughes has a background in personal finance and was a GMB union representative for six years prior to being elected to Kirklees Council.