St Albans: Chris White re-elected as council leader

The Liberal Democrat councillor first took on the role in 2019, but was re-elected yesterday (Wednesday, May 24).

Cllr White will also chair two of the local authority's four service and scrutiny committees: Strategy and Resources; and Planning Policy and Climate.

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Additionally, he will serve as the lead councillor for a number of strategic and planning policy issues.

The other lead councilllors within the council are Cllr Helen Campbell, Cllr Jacqui Taylor, Cllr Paul De Kort, Cllr Lynn Cunningham, Cllr Sarwar Shamsher, and Cllr Raj Visram.

The news follows a restructure of St Albans City and District Council's committee system.

There will no longer be a Regeneration and Business Committee, Policy Committee, or an Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

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Instead, the Public Realm Committee and Housing and Inclusion Committee join those chaired by Cllr White, to make up the local authority's four main boards.

A Constitution Committee, responsible for monitoring and reviewing the council’s constitution, has also been created.

Suzanne Jones, the council’s strategic director for customer, business and corporate support, said: “These are significant changes and our new Constitution Committee will conduct a review after six months of its operation to see if the new system is having the impact we hope for.”