New Mayor of Calderdale takes up office

They include new Mayor of Calderdale, Councillor Marcus Thompson, and Deputy Mayor Councillor Chris Pillai, who were chosen for their new roles last November.

Councillor Thompson (Con, Skircoat) and Coun Pillai (Con, Rastrick) will be the borough’s civic heads, taking over from retiring Mayor Ferman Ali, who did not stand for re-election in the May 2018 poll, and his deputy Councillor Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot).

After the more ceremonial parts of the meeting and a lunch break, the council must choose its new leader, who must report on the number of members to be elected to Cabinet and their names, including who will be Deputy Leader, the allocation of Cabinet portfolios and designation of executive functions to the Cabinet as a whole.

The council must also determine the Scrutiny Boards and Council Committees and Panels to be established for the 2018/2019 municipal year, appoint chairs and deputies for each, decide their size and terms of reference and agree the scheme of delegations.

Councillors must also agree the allocation of seats to political groups in accordance with the authority’s own political balance rules.

And the council must choose its representatives on outside bodies and joint authority committees such as West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, West Yorkshire Joint Services Committee, and West Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel.

Calderdale is a hung authority, meaning no party has overall control.

The state of the parties is now Labour 24 seats, Conservatives 20, Liberal Democrats six and Independents one.

The last 12 months has seen Labour run Calderdale on a minority basis under the leadership of Councillor Tim Swift (Town) and his deputy Councillor Barry Collins (Illingworth and Mixenden).