The Conservative Group on Stoke-on-Trent City Council will be under new leadership following a unanimous decision by Conservative Councillors at a recent meeting.
Cllr Daniel Jellyman has been selected by Conservative Councillors as the new Group Leader at the meeting held following May's Local Elections. Cllr Lorraine Beardmore was chosen by group members as their new Group Deputy Leader. As the only opposition group on the Council, Cllr Jellyman will also become Leader of the Opposition on the Council.
First elected in 2015, Cllr Jellyman represents the Hanford, Newstead and Trentham ward on Stoke-on-Trent City Council and has previously held the positions of Cabinet Member for Highways, Heritage and Regeneration as well as being Deputy Leader of the Council between 2020 and 2023.
Cllr Beardmore was first elected in 2019 to represent Blurton on the Council, and has also held the Cabinet portfolio for Culture, Leisure and Public Health.
Speaking to the local newspaper following his election as Group Leader, Cllr Jellyman said he wants to ensure Labour meets deadlines for spending the various government grants the city has been awarded.
He said: “The job of opposition is to hold the administration to account, and make sure they deliver on what they said they would. We’ll make sure they continue to deliver good value for money for the taxpayer, and act in the best interests of the residents of Stoke-on-Trent."
“We want to make sure the government grants we successfully obtained won’t be handed back through lack of spending them. There are deadlines when it comes to spending the £56 million of levelling up money, there’s deadlines when it comes to spending the £30 million transforming cities money.
“We just got awarded money for the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery just before the election - there’s deadlines for spending that as well. If you don’t spend the money within a time period it gets handed back, so we’ll be making sure the opportunity isn’t lost.”
Mr Jellyman also made a commitment to working constructively, and not opposing policies to be obstructive to the incoming Labour administration.
He said: “I’m a pragmatist, so I want to make sure that whilst we offer robust challenge, we’ll also work with whatever party for the benefit of the city - as we did in both 2015 and 2019.
“We’re not going to oppose things for the sake of opposition, we’re going to be robust but pragmatic in what’s in the interests of Stoke-on-Trent.”
