Harlow Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats Take Control Of Harlow Council

On Thursday 27 November, Liberal Democrats took minority control of Harlow District Council.

Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Lorna Spenceley is now leader of Harlow Council, with Cllr Su Lawton as deputy leader of the council. Liberal Democrats now chair and vice-chair all the council's decision-making committees.

No other party nominated candidates for any of these posts. However, councillors from the opposition Labour group will continue to chair the council's two scrutiny committees.

Old Joint Administration Dead And Buried

The move follows the break-up of the joint administration between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, which was formed in May 2002 and renewed in May 2003.

The joint administration came to an end as a result of the actions of two senior Conservative councillors - committee chairs Cllr Simon Carter and Cllr Mike Garnett. Both refused to resign their posts despite losing the confidence of the council in a vote in October.

Time To Move Forward

Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Lorna Spenceley says: "The last few months have not impressed Harlow voters, and frankly have brought residents' respect for their local council to an all-time low. It's time now to move forward, and address the many important issues facing Harlow. There's work to be done.

"We recognise that we are only eleven councillors out of 33, and that we cannot put in place Liberal Democrat policies without the support of at least one other party.

"We want to seek agreement on priorities we can share, and work together to achieve. Because we do not have a majority on the council, what we can achieve will be limited, but we will do our best to work constructively for the benefit of the town and its people."

People

Harlow Council	Leader	Deputy Leader
	Lorna Spenceley	Su Lawton

Committee	Chaired by	Vice-Chaired by
Policy & Resources	Lorna Spenceley	Su Lawton
Environment & Community	Chris Millington	Eleanor Macy
Housing	Su Lawton	Lesley Rideout
Planning	Ian Jackson	Robert Thurston
Licensing	Matthew Shepherd	Mike Faccini
Preview & Best Value	Opposition	Chris Robbins
Call-in	Opposition

List of Liberal Democrat Councillors with contact details

See the Harlow Council site for full committee list

Harlow Liberal Democrats Home Page