Town hall chief is re-elected as head of Labour group
ANOTHER CABINET RESHUFFLE
KIRKLEES Council leader Shabir Pandor has been re-elected as leader of the Labour group on the authority.
His deputy will be Clr Cathy Scott, who represents Dewsbury East.
She replaces veteran councillor Peter McBride.
Clr Pandor said Clr Scott would be “a great asset to the Labour Group and council in delivering our manifesto priorities.”
He also offered his thanks to Clr McBride “for supporting me in my leadership role”.
Clr Pandor, whose name has been linked to the forthcoming by-election in Batley and Spen as a potential Labour parliamentary candidate, also faces reshuffling his decision-making Cabinet.
That is expected to happen in the next fortnight and follows the defeat in last week’s local elections of Graham Turner, who lost his seat to the Conservatives.
The reshuffle will be the second in less than six months.
Last November, Clr Paul Davies replaced Clr Rob Walker, who quit the Labour Party in protest at Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to block former party leader Jeremy Corbyn from sitting as a Labour MP.
Clr Walker carried on as an independent, but stepped down from the council at the local elections.
The Conservatives have re-elected Clr David Hall as group leader and Clr John Taylor as deputy.
The Liberal Democrats have reelected Clr John Lawson as group leader and Clr Andrew Marchington as deputy.
The Greens have re-elected Clr Andrew Cooper as group leader, while Clr Charles Greaves has been reelected as lead member of the Independents.