Council leader to stand down after 15 years

The leader of Wolverhampton City Council has said he plans to step down after 15 years in the role.

Cllr Roger Lawrence was first elected as a councillor in 1983 before later taking up the leadership.

Councillor Lawrence is currently responsible for the regional transport portfolio – a post he has held for four years – overseeing investment across the West Midland’s tram, train and major road network.

Cllr Lawrence said: “I feel that now’s the right time to make way for fresh leadership.

“I will not be putting my name forward during the leadership vote that follows city local elections on May 2. I will, however, continue to serve local residents in St Peter’s ward until May 2020.”

Lawrence said the challenges facing the city and and wider region are “significant”.

“Brexit uncertainty, further cuts to public services, wider political, social and economic changes – they’re all long-term issues and I feel the time is right for new thinking, energy and focus and a longer-term commitment that I am unable to make,” he said.

“These challenges are not insurmountable, but they do mean that the council and the city need to continue to pull together, as one, to overcome them. And we’ve shown many times before that we can do this. I’m immensely proud of some of our big achievements. Record levels of investment and a new £150m Interchange connecting train, tram, bus and car.

“I firmly believe that this place and it’s fantastic people have a bright future and I look forward to seeing our city go from strength-to-strength under new leadership.”

The council said Lawrence “steered the council through one of its most challenging periods”, following the 2007 global financial crisis and subsequent Government cuts to local authority budgets. Funding for the council has been halved by £220m since 2009, it said.

It said Lawrence was a “driving force”, as initial programme board chair, of the fledgling West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

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