New council leader appointed

Councillor Rachel Millward, Alliance for Wealden (Green Party), lead councillor for Housing & Benefits and formerly the deputy leader of the council, was appointed at a meeting of the Full Council on Wednesday.

She replaces Councillor James Partridge, Alliance for Wealden (Liberal Democrat), and lead councillor for Governance, Community Leadership and Communications, who had been leader of the council since being elected in May 2023.

Councillor Partridge is now the deputy leader of the council. Members of the council’s Cabinet remain the same.

Councillor Millward said, “It might be a cliche, but it truly has been a pleasure and a privilege to be deputy leader of this council for the last year. I want to thank James for his gracious, principled, and steady leadership. For being a man of his word. And a truly excellent teammate.

“What we are doing here matters. As a local authority we have very limited powers, and yet what we deliver truly impacts the daily lives of our residents. I am deeply proud of what this Alliance has achieved in just one year. Within six months we had a new Council Strategy, within nine months we had a Draft Local Plan draft out for public consultation. These are major achievements and I am clear that we have got there through teamwork – across the leadership, the cabinet, the membership and with council staff.

“I think we have begun to do what our residents asked of us. A new kind of politics based on openness, honesty and transparency. We are putting aside party-political differences and focusing on the difference we can make for residents. And it works.”

“As leader, I will not deviate from the path we are on. I will work just as closely with James as he has worked with me. As a cabinet team we will thrash out ideas and make decisions. Above all, we will continue to deliver – a new climate change strategy, a first-time cultural strategy, we will take the Local Plan through Regulation 19, we will deliver medical centres, play and sport facilities across the district and continually seek ways to help our residents with the housing and cost of living crises they face. We are experimenting with new ways to engage our communities, learning to listen better, to co-create our projects with them. And I am genuinely excited to ensure that that a more open, consultative, and collaborative approach is embedded across the membership too.”

Also at the meeting, Councillor Jessika Hulbert was reappointed as the chair of the council and Councillor Gavin Blake-Coggins reappointed as deputy chair.