"An honour": Reaction as Cornwall Council elects first female leader

Cornwall Council's new leader has said that she and her Conservative Cabinet will deliver for the people of Cornwall who she says want change.

Linda Taylor said she was "particularly pleased" to be the first woman to lead the council and thanked her colleagues in the Conservative group for supporting her.

Her appointment was approved at the annual general meeting of the council at County Hall in Truro.

It was the first time since the first lockdown that councillors had met in person and there were a lot of changes from a normal council meeting.

All councillors were reminded to wear facemasks during the meeting unless they were speaking and hand sanitiser had been provided for every councillor.

With 87 councillors attending the meeting along with council officers some members found themselves in the public gallery.

Former leader of the council independent councillor Julian German said on Twitter that the meeting had cost the council an extra £7,000 to host.

He said:

"An extra £7000 to host today's Cornwall Council AGM. This cost is being replicated up and down the country. What a waste of money thanks to the Tory government."

All councils have had to hold meetings in person after the Government declined to extend legislation which had allowed all meetings to be held online since last year.

As a result, all council meetings and committee meetings for Cornwall Council will be held in the council chamber in County Hall until at least June 21st when the next relaxation of restrictions is expected.

One of the main purposes of the meeting was to elect the new leader of the council which was taken by Conservative group leader Linda Taylor after her group secured a majority at the recent elections.

In accepting her post she said:

"It is an honour to take my position with a number of firsts. The first time one group of councillors have overall control of the council. I am particularly pleased about being the first female leader of Cornwall Council.

"I would like to thank the Conservative group who have worked together as a team and have been loyal, supportive and constructive in advice."

She also paid tribute to those Conservative councillors who had stood down before the election or who lost their seats.

Cllr Taylor introduced her Cabinet and said:

"I am looking forward to working with this professional, skilled and enthusiastic team for the people of Cornwall for the next four years."

She then thanked those who voted for the Conservatives and said they had done so as "they wanted change."

Cllr Taylor said: "Our priority, first and foremost, is you the people of Cornwall."

She then said that the Conservative plan ahead of the election put forward "clear objectives" and said that they would be seeking value for money, supporting businesses, prioritising housing for local people, introducing 20mph speed limits where needed and delivery of skills and training.

Cllr Taylor said that the Conservative leadership would deliver on vitality of high streets with the town deal and would continue to deliver the Forest for Cornwall and protect the AONB.

She also said that it would be looking to review the waste contract that the council has as well as the community networks.

However, despite it being a key part of the plan before the election, Cllr Taylor made no mention of the promise to close the council's Brussels office.

The new council leader did add:

"We will not make any promises until we have the full financial details."

And she said that she wanted to lead a council that could deliver saying that "residents could see the Conservative government delivering during the pandemic" and "the ability of the Prime Minister to secure the vaccine well ahead of the EU".

The agenda for today's meeting also allowed the Leader of the council to deliver a report on the State of Cornwall in the National Context but Cllr Taylor asked for that to be deferred until the next council meeting which will be in July.

The meeting today also saw the council elect a new chairman with Pauline Giles chosen to take the ceremonial role. Her vice-chair is Jordan Rowse.

Linda Taylor had proposed Cllr Giles for the chair, describing her as "a woman tornado" and said that she would carry out the role with "warmth, compassion and honour".

In accepting the role Cllr Giles said: "I may not speak Cornish, but you can't get much more Cornish than me."

She said that she would be a "fair" chairman and would not show any favouritism to any political party and said she would give all members the opportunity to help the people of Cornwall.

Cllr Giles said that she approaches everything with passion and said that she would bring this to the role of Chair adding: "So buckle up."

She said that the council "need to show the people of Cornwall that we get them" and added: "I am a Cornish maid, a St Blazey maid, let me be your ambassador to Cornwall for one and all."

Jordan Rowse, at 24, is the youngest ever vice-chair of the council having previously been the youngest councillor when he was first elected four years ago.

Cllr Taylor said she was delighted to propose Cllr Rowse for the role and said:

"When we got together as a group in the early days in 2017 I do remember hearing from David Harris that he had whiskies older than Jordan."

Cllr Rowse said that it would be a "privilege" to be able to work alongside Cllr Giles – following the pair serving neighbouring wards in the last council.

He said that his appointment would be recognition of what he offers the council "forward looking, future proofing" and said that he wanted to ensure that the G7 summit should provide a legacy.

But he said: "The legacy should be something that money can't buy – inspiring a generation."

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