DISTRICT councillor for Dursley, Doina Cornell, has been elected as the new chairman of the Labour Party in Stroud.

She replaces David Drew who stood down from the role following his election last month.

The vote took place at the annual general meeting of Stroud Constituency Labour Party in Stonehouse on Friday.

She said: “It’s a huge privilege to be elected chair of the CLP, and I looking forward to working closely with all our members to support our MP David Drew and our leader Jeremy Corbyn.”

Since the 2015 general election, membership of the Stroud group has almost quadrupled – from 430 to 1,598 – which is believed to be a record.

A number of other appointments to positions within the group were also made on Friday.