COUNCILLOR Doina Cornell (Lab, Dursley) was elected the new leader of Stroud District Council at a full council meeting last night.

The Dursley Labour & Cooperative councillor was nominated by her predecessor Cllr Steve Lydon, who has been forced to stand down due to ill health.

Cllr Lydon proposed Cllr Cornell for the post, saying: “She’s a great choice for us all and I look forward to working with her in the future.”

Her nomination was seconded by Green councillor Simon Pickering, who said: “It’s a difficult task but she will make a good job of it, and I’m looking forward to working with her on a number of issues.”

Stroud News and Journal:

Cllr Doina Cornell was elected leader of Stroud District Council last night Cllr Steve Robinson will step into the role of deputy leader

No other nominations were put forward for either the leader, or the deputy leader role, meaning that both Cllr Cornell and her deputy Cllr Steve Robinson (Lab, Nailsworth) were elected into the position without members requiring to vote.

Speaking of her election Cllr Cornell said: “I’m proud and humbled to have been elected as leader. As a councillor, I’ve always worked with all parties across the district and that’s what I’ll continue to do as leader.

“But there will be times when I hold this Tory government to account. There are Labour and Tory leaders across the country who are very concerned about what is happening to local government.

“I’m proud that for the last six years we’ve been running the council with our co-operative partners from the Green and Liberal Democrat parties, working alongside officers of the council who work so hard and don’t always get the gratitude and recognition they deserve.”

Last year's figures from the Institute for Public Policy Research showed that less than one in five of council leaders across the UK are women.

Cllr Cornell said: “It’s really great – as a woman – to be elected leader this year, when we’re going to be celebrating the centenary of women getting the vote for the first time.”