WOKINGHAM Borough Council’s Conservative group has appointed its successor to John Halsall.
The party lost its majority during the recent local elections, and saw Cllr Halsall step down. The group has announced ahead of tomorrow’s annual council meeting that Cllr Pauline Jorgensen will take over.
Although the Conservatives are one councillor short of a majority, it is expected that the Liberal Democrats will form the new ruling group after announcing a partnership agreement with Labour and the two independent councillors.
Cllr Jorgensen said that if the Conservatives became the official opposition, it would “robustly challenge” the ruling group, and also seek to make the case to voters ahead of next year’s local elections.
“I am honoured to have been chosen by my fellow Conservative councillors to lead the Group,” the Hillside councillor said in a statement. “We will continue to work hard to help our residents.
“Clearly, it’s disappointing that our lack of a majority on the Council means that we may not be able to continue running the authority in the coming year.
“We want to protect the strong legacy that we have left for the new administration to pick up.”
She continued: “The recent local elections sent a clear message from residents: they want all parties to work together for the benefit of all the Borough.
“The Liberal Democrats should remember that the voters didn’t give them a majority on the Council.
“The Opposition made a lot of pledges during the election campaign, and we want to make sure that they’re delivering on what residents want.”
Last week, Wokingham Borough Council’s chief executive Susan Parsonage paid tribute to Cllr Halsall, after his three year tenure as leader came to an end.
“Cllr John Halsall has announced he will be resigning as leader of the council on Thursday May 19,” she said.
“It is also expected that a new leader will be elected at the Annual Council meeting on the same evening.
“John has been leader since May 2019 and will remain as councillor for Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe.”
