Councillor David Mellen will not seek re-election as the Leader of Nottingham City Council in May 2024.
Every year, the majority Labour Group of councillors have the chance to choose the person they want to be Leader of the council. Councillor Mellen has been Leader since May 2019.
In those five challenging years he has overseen many changes and difficulties in Nottingham. These have included the Covid 19 pandemic, a Conservative Government that continues to reduce council funding, Brexit, recession, high inflation, the collapse of ‘intu’, the closure of Robin Hood Energy and the imposition of a government-appointed Improvement Board.
However, these challenges have been matched by successes such as the opening of the new Nottingham Central Library, plans for a renewed Broad Marsh development including a new city centre park, several hundred new council houses, support for people into employment, education, or training and a successfully reopened Nottingham Castle. Councillor Mellen has also led the push for a devolved Combined County Authority in the East Midlands and championed a reading scheme that has delivered thousands of free books to children in Nottingham.
It was this record of delivery, alongside the openness and accountability of past mistakes, that David and his colleagues put to the electorate last May; winning 62% of the vote, returning 51 out 55 Labour Councillors and making Nottingham a Tory free zone for the first time in its history.