Re-elected leader of Sheffield City Council praises city as ‘on the rise’

Sheffield City Council’s new administration has been officially announced, with Labour’s Tom Hunt re-elected as council leader.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Labor councilor Fran Belbin was also confirmed as deputy leader.

Following the announcement, Mr Hunt said they would continue the work they had started over the past 12 months.

The meeting, which was the first since local elections in early May, was briefly interrupted by pro-Palestinian activists.

Lord Mayor Jayne Dunn, who had just been appointed mayor, threatened to postpone the meeting if the protesters did not leave.

After a few minutes, they left the public gallery.

During the meeting, Mr Hunt hailed Sheffield as a city “on the rise” and said it was time to “shout about our strengths”.

“We don’t always agree in this room, but we have much more in common than divides us,” he said.

“We have a shared commitment to serve the people who elected us and to always act in their best interests and for Sheffield.

“For too long Sheffield has been untrustworthy and too quiet, it’s time to put an end to that modesty.”

Labor won five seats in the last council election, and while it wasn’t enough to take overall control of the council, it did give them a firmer majority.

This time last year Labor was in a much more uncertain situation.

The National Labor Party has been concerned for some time about Sheffield Labour’s handling of issues such as the clean air zone, shipping containers on Fargate and the row over street trees.

On the morning of last year’s election count, before all the votes had been cast, it was announced that Terry Fox would no longer be group leader and Sheffield Labor was in special measures.

Labor appointed Mr Hunt as the new leader of the group and he became council leader.

Sheffield Council now consists of 36 Labour, 27 Lib Dem and 14 Green councillors.

There are six community councillors, all former Labor councilors who left the party in loyalty to Mr Fox and became independents.

And for the first time in living memory, Sheffield also has a directly elected independent councillor.

Councilor Qais Al-Ahdad, who ran a pro-Palestine campaign, won the Darnall seat from Labour.

Sheffield City Council’s new administration has been officially announced, with Labour’s Tom Hunt re-elected as council leader.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Labor councilor Fran Belbin was also confirmed as deputy leader.

Following the announcement, Mr Hunt said they would continue the work they had started over the past 12 months.

The meeting, which was the first since local elections in early May, was briefly interrupted by pro-Palestinian activists.