Rutland County Council appoints new Lib Dem and Green leader Gale Waller

Three newly-elected councillors have been appointed to key roles at Rutland County Council following the recent election.

Councillor Gale Waller (Lib Dem and Green) became the new leader of the council at a meeting last night (Monday) and selected five members of her political group to join her on the cabinet.

Newcomer Andrew Johnson was appointed as deputy leader and portfolio holder for resources, with Diane Ellison taking charge of adult care and health, and Christine Wise taking responsibility for highways, transport and the environment.

Councillor Raymond Payne, who first joined the council in June 2022, is the new portfolio holder for children’s services and councillor Paul Browne, a member since August 2021, is in charge of planning and property.

All of these councillors are part of the new Liberal Democrat and Green Group, which was formed after the election and has 12 councillors. The Conservative Group and Independent Group each have six councillors and the Labour Group has two. There is one independent councillor.

Coun Waller said: “I feel proud to be in this position and very grateful to the people of Rutland for supporting me – its quite awesome really.

“I hope and believe that we will live up to people’s expectations because we actually believe the things that we say.”

Former council leader Lucy Stephenson (Con) said: “I don’t think there were any surprises and I wish Councillor Waller and her cabinet all the best in what will be a really challenging four years.”

During the meeting, Andrew Brown was elected as chairman of the council and Samantha Harvey as his deputy.

The following councillors were selected to chair the committees: Audit and risk – Karen Payne; conduct – Oliver Hemsley; constitution commission – Gale Waller; employment and appeals – Samantha Harvey; planning and licensing – Nick Begy; overview and scrutiny – Ramsay Ross.