A NEW Conservative administration has been appointed to lead Southend Council after being voted in at Full Council last week.

At the recent local elections, no party gained the required majority to lead the council outright.

However the Conservative Party has 24 seats and have formed a minority administration following the agreement of a ‘confidence and supply’ arrangement with UKIP.

This means that UKIP councillors will support the minority administration in matters of leadership and will support the budget.

Cllr John Lamb is therefore the new Leader of the Council and after appointing his Cabinet at the meeting, said: “I am honoured to be the new Leader of the Council and along with my new Cabinet look forward to serving the local people of Southend. 

“We all want the best for this great Borough and will work hard to ensure that we do the very best we can for local people and local businesses.”

The new Cabinet is as follows:

Cllr John Lamb- Leader of the Council

Cllr Ann Holland- Deputy Leader and Executive Councillor for Culture, Tourism and the Economy

Cllr Andrew Moring- Executive Councillor for Corporate and Community Support Services

Cllr Mark Flewitt- Executive Councillor for Housing, Planning and Public Protection Services

Cllr James Courtenay- Executive Councillor for Children and Learning

Cllr Lesley Salter- Executive Councillor for Health and Adult Social Care

Cllr Tony Cox- Executive Councillor for Transport, Waste and Cleansing

Cllr Trevor Byford- Executive Councillor for Technology

Appointments to the various committees were also formally agreed. 

These will be viewable under the meeting agenda this week.