Re-elected council leader says city is 'on the up'

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

During the meeting on Wednesday, Labour councillor Fran Belbin was also confirmed as deputy leader.

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

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

Lord Mayor Jayne Dunn, who had just been appointed to the mayoral role, threatened to adjourn the meeting if 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 up" and said it was time to "shout about our strengths".

“We don’t always agree in this chamber but we have lots 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 the interests of them and for Sheffield.

“For too long Sheffield has been lacking in confidence and too quiet, it’s time to end that modesty."

Labour won five seats in the recent council elections and although it was not enough to take overall control of the council, it has given them a firmer majority.

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

The national Labour Party had been concerned for a while about how Sheffield Labour had handled issues such as the Clean Air Zone, shipping containers on Fargate and street tree dispute.

On the morning of last year’s election count, before any votes had even been taken out of the ballot boxes, it was announced Terry Fox would no longer be group leader and Sheffield Labour was in special measures.

Labour appointed Mr Hunt as the new group leader and he went on to become council leader.

Sheffield Council is now made up of 36 Labour councillors, 27 Liberal Democrats and 14 Greens.

There are six Community councillors, all former Labour councillors who quit the party in loyalty to Mr Fox and became Independents.

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

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

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

During the meeting on Wednesday, Labour councillor Fran Belbin was also confirmed as deputy leader.

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

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