Shropshire Council to have first female leader as Tories vote for Lezley Picton

Councillor Picton won the support of her Conservative colleagues at a meeting of the group on Monday afternoon – beating acting leader Steve Charmley.

It means that after the formality of the full council meeting on Thursday, she will take over the leadership of the authority as it faces some of the biggest decisions since its creation in 2009.

The contest was decided in a vote of the Conservative group's 43 councillors – with only Councillors Picton and Charmley on the ballot.

Councillor Charmley will now take on the role of deputy leader.

The vote took place at Theatre Severn, and was required after the shock defeat of Peter Nutting at this month's council elections.

Councillor Picton now has the task of steering the authority through a series of major issues, such as the plans to build the North West Relief Road, the potential sale of Shirehall and moving the authority into a new base, significant plans for Oswestry and Shrewsbury's town centres, as well as dealing with the continuing strain of the pandemic.

It comes after what many will have seen as a disappointing election performance from the Conservative group, which lost five seats – but still commands a significant majority.

The Tern Councillor has earned respect for her handling of the authority's culture portfolio, and was immediately welcomed into the top job by Telford & Wrekin Council's Labour leader, Councillor Shaun Davies.

Councillor Picton said she was honoured to have secured the support of her colleagues and that her first priority would be looking to tackle the issues of the state of the county's roads, which have attracted considerable public criticism.

She said that the council had to listen to the voices of the county's residents, and build better relationships with town and parish councils.

She added that while there would be room to look at some of the council's plans, the decisions on the 'big projects' such as the North West Relief Road, Shirehall plans, and Shrewsbury's Big Town Plan had already been taken.

She said: "I am delighted to have been elected as leader of the Conservative Group and very grateful to my colleagues for placing their trust in me to lead the group on Shropshire Council. There are a number of big issues that need our immediate attention and I am looking forward to getting to work."

Councillor Picton, who now embarks on a four year term as leader, said she had outlined her vision to her fellow Conservative members.

She said: "I talked about how we are coming through Covid and how incredible Shropshire has been, how it has pulled together, all the community groups that have sprung up and going forward we need to keep the groups together and keep caring for the people, and make sure we have a really healthy economy and healthy residents."

She added: "The first thing now will be to appoint a cabinet, we will do that ready for Thursday and then is it about listening to people. There are some great things happening in Shropshire and we need to make sure we are doing stuff correctly."

Councillor Picton said the issue of potholes had been one of the main problems raised during the election campaign.

She said: "I am not going to lie, I know we got a hammering from the highways and that is my number one priority."

Councillor Picton also said that she was looking forward to continuing the productive relationship her predecessor enjoyed with Telford & Wrekin Council.

She said: "We will continue in the same vein as before – the relationship has been very positive with Shaun, I have worked well with my opposite numbers so I am looking forward to more of the same, more positive relationships."

Cllr Charmley said: "I am looking forward to working with Lezley and taking forward the Conservative policies that Shropshire has voted for. I have every confidence in Lezley's leadership and I know she will work hard as we all will to repay the faith the electorate of Shropshire has placed in us once again."