Cllr Derek Green elected as new Mayor of Winchester at the Guildhall

The ceremony, on May 18, saw Cllr Green take over from Cllr Vivian Achwal as Mayor for 2022-23.

The meeting, at the Guildhall, also saw Cllr Martin Tod officially made leader of Winchester City Council, replacing Cllr Lucille Thompson. Cllr Angela Clear was appointed Deputy Mayor.

Cllr Tod proposed Cllr Green to be Mayor and said: “Derek is a Winchester man through and through. He joined the Royal Navy at 16 and when he returned to Winchester, he worked in a variety of jobs including as a milkman, a taxi driver, a bus driver and now working at Tesco.

“He joined the council in 2012 and has been the chairman of the Winchester branch of the Royal British Legion for 22 years. He has worked the night shift at Tesco for the last 19 years.”

The Waynflete Singers gave a performance before the new Mayor was brought to the stage. Cllr Green said that the new mayor's charities would be Winchester Hospice, the Trinity Centre and the British Heart Foundation.

Cllr Tod was elected as the new leader of the council, having been proposed by former leader Cllr Thompson.

Cllr Tod then announced his Cabinet as follows; Cllr Paula Ferguson - deputy leader and cabinet member for community and housing; Cllr Kelsie Learney - cabinet member for the climate emergency; Cllr Thompson - cabinet member for business and culture; Cllr Margot Power- cabinet member for finance and value, Cllr Jackie Porter - Cabinet member for place and the local plan and Cllr Russell Gordon-Smith - cabinet member for service quality. The leader confirmed he would take responsibility for asset management.

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The news of the new cabinet comes as Cllr Thompson announced her decision to step down after seven years as Liberal Democrat leader and three years as leader of the city council.

Cllr Thompson said: “I am very pleased to be proposing Martin as our new leader. He has been a hard-working councillor in the city for many years and was the architect of our recent election victory. He also wrote the ambitious and positive manifesto that helped give us nine out of 14 seats in the election and maintain our control of the council.

“As a Cabinet colleague, Martin was responsible for delivering a whole range of initiatives including some of the fastest growing recycling levels in the country and the pedestrianisation of The Square.”

Cllr Tod said: “We owe Lucille a huge amount for her leadership over the last seven years. She led the Liberal Democrats to control of the council – and after taking control, she led the council through the pandemic at the same time as it cut its carbon footprint by more than a third. Despite the challenges we face, the council has continued to deliver for local people while keeping council tax down.

“There are still major challenges ahead. We have said we will go greener, faster. We cannot be complacent about our economic recovery. The council needs to be efficient in keeping costs down. When many people are facing challenging times, we have to protect services that support the most vulnerable. And we need to listen better and work alongside the people and businesses of Winchester in tackling the challenges we face.

“I’m very grateful for the support of colleagues and Lucille especially in being proposed for this new role.”

Message from the editor Kimberley Barber

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