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Nottingham Labour

The new Executive

Nottingham Labour confirmed today (22 May) at Full Council the political and civic leadership of the city, after securing an increased majority at the local elections. A total of 51 out of 55 councillors at Nottingham City Council, are now Labour. This gives us a strong mandate to implement the manifesto over the next four years and continue to fight for and improve the lives of Nottingham residents.

Councillor David Mellen will remain as Leader of the council, continuing the hard work of continuing the hard work of himself, Cllr Adele Williams, Cllr Sally Longford and all previous and current executive and backbench members. He is responsible for continuing devolution, strategic regeneration, development and work on the city’s ambitious plan to be carbon neutral by 2028, as well as promoting the vision of the council and supporting all of his Portfolio Holders in their work. There is much work to be done over the next term and the new executive will be key in achieving the goals Nottingham Labour want for the city.

Councillor Audra Wynter has been confirmed as the new Deputy Leader and she will have responsibility for the finance and HR portfolios. With a background in finance work, Councillor Wynter will ensure the council remains on track in delivering a balanced budget and sticking to the Medium-Term Financial Plan, while delivering high-quality services for residents.


Councillor Corall Jenkins will be taking over as Portfolio Holder for Energy, Environment and Waste Services and Parks. She will have responsibility for key services such as bin collection and disposal, keeping our city’s streets clean and maintaining all of our wonderful parks.

Councillor Cheryl Barnard will remain as Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Education. She will continue to be responsible for leading our children’s services, working with Ofsted to improve it where necessary, ensuring children’s safeguarding and working with academy trusts across the city on schools, ensuring attendance and working to reduce exclusions, so that all children get the best start in life.

Councillor Steve Battlemuch will be taking up the reins as Portfolio Holder for Skills, Growth, Economic Development and Property. He will lead on skills and employment, ensuring that the workforce in the city is prepared for any changes in the way we work, and that the people of this city have the right opportunities. He will also oversee the management of the city centre, attracting investment and helping to ensure that Nottingham is promoted nationally and internationally to business and tourism.

Councillor Jay Hayes has been confirmed as the new Portfolio Holder for Housing. He will lead on managing the council housing service, student housing, private rented properties and areas such as selective licensing and homelessness. Housing is incredibly important, all those who live in the city deserve to have a property that is safe, secure and that can be called home, whether they rent in the private sector or have social housing.

Councillor Sajid Mohammed will lead as Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods, Safety and Inclusion. This covers areas such as community protection, domestic violence work, licensing, taxi strategy and more. It is so important that Nottingham is a safe place to work and live in. Councillor Mohammed with many years of experience of community work and as director of Himmah will bring the required expertise to lead in these vital areas, and he will also lead on refugee and asylum seeker work, to ensure that Nottingham is a welcoming city for all, and that those vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers can integrate and make new lives in Nottingham.

Councillor Pavlos Kotsonis will continue as Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture. He will ensure that we continue to offer an outstanding events programme. He will also oversee the reopening and flourishing of the Castle, the continued running of Wollaton Hall and Newstead Abbey as well as leisure centres, markets, libraries and community centres across the city. Access to cultural events and key things like libraries and leisure centres is so important for allowing the people of the city to thrive and create.

Councillor Linda Woodings will also remain as Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health. She will continue to work on Public Health and Wellbeing, tackling health inequalities and working to reduce smoking prevalence, working on mental health and generally improving the health of residents in the city. She will also lead on independent living. All of these will help to improve the quality and length of life for residents in the city for years to come.

Finally, Councillor Angela Kandola will be taking over as Portfolio Holder for Highways, Transport and Planning. She will oversee public transport such as buses and the tram. She will also lead on greener transport such as cycling and cycling links in the city, ensure highways are correctly managed and repaired as well as the Workplace Parking Levy to help increase public transport usage.

This is just a short summary of the responsibilities that the Executive will have for the next year. They will bring both their expertise and new views to help ensure that there is strong and effective political leadership at the council. This will continue both our journey with the Improvement and Assurance Board but also enable us to bring in the pledges that we made to the residents of the city in our manifesto in the May local elections.