New South Ribble leader elected amid tributes for predecessor

South Ribble Borough Council has a new leader after the man who led the district for the past five years became the area’s MP.

Jacky Alty was elected by members to take over from Paul Foster at a meeting of the authority on Wednesday evening.   She told the gathering she would do her “utmost to live up to” the opportunity.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands she was chosen as the ruling Labour group’s pick for the top job just days after Cllr Foster’s win in the South Ribble constituency at the general election.

Cllr Alty has represented the Farington East ward since she first became a member of the council in 2019 – the year Labour seized control of the borough from the Conservatives after 12 years. She was immediately appointed to the newly-created role of social justice and equality champion, which she held until May last year when she became the cabinet member for licensing, social justice and equality and diversity.

In her first speech as leader, Cllr Alty stressed what she said was the importance of the tone of the debate in local politics.

“I think we can lose sight of the fact that we are being watched by people…and it’s a wonderful thing where we can treat each other with civility and respect, even if we disagree.

“So I really do look forward to having some robust conversations [and] challenges…and we can explore things to drive South Ribble forward even more,” Cllr Alty said.

Her fellow ward member, Paul Wharton-Hardman said he had witnessed the new leader put the interests of residents “at the heart of everything she does”.

In a statement issued to the LDRS after the meeting, Cllr Alty also pledged to be a listening leader.

“I have championed social justice and equality and diversity in my work on cabinet and as member champion – and I want to continue to bring our communities to the forefront of our work, to ensure that communities are listened to, supported and encouraged to do great things.

“The task of leading such a wonderful council comes with great responsibility, but I am excited for the future and I am confident, alongside my brilliant team of fellow elected members, we can continue to drive forward projects and programmes which will benefit all those across our communities,” Cllr Alty added.

She was one of several members who paid tribute to Cllr Foster, who has been a South Ribble borough councillor for the past 17 years – and was leader of the Labour group in opposition before becoming council leader in 2019.

In his final address before handing over the baton, he said his departure was a “bittersweet moment”, but told the meeting he “couldn’t possibly” discharge the duties of both MP and council leader.

He said that leadership could be “a very lonely place at times”, because “the right decisions are rarely…the easy decisions”.  He also thanked the Liberal Democrat group on the authority which supported his minority administration between 2019 and 2023 through a ‘confidence and supply’ agreement.

“We put the community first and we came to a compromise outside of this chamber – and I’d like to think the decisions that we made together…are bearing fruit for everyone now,” Cllr Foster said.

He listed amongst his proudest achievements during his tenure the exemption of the lowest-income households from council tax, securing the £25m government Town Deal for Leyland and the money saved by sharing more services with neighbouring Chorley Council.

“We’re all local community councillors, we all have the same desires, deep down, to improve things for our communities – and we do…disagree how we’re going to go about doing that.  But at the end of the day…we come together for…community events and [we] have a drink together – and that’s how it should be.”

With that sentiment still hanging in the air, he received a presentation from the current mayor – and his former political sparring partner – Peter Mullineaux, with whom he had several clashes when the latter was the Tory leader of the council from 2016 to 2018.

The cross-party camaraderie did not end there, with another former Conservative leader Maragert Smith – whose “formidable” decade-long leadership he complemented – wishing him well at Westminster, where she said she was sure he would have “the interests of South Ribble and its residents…foremost [in] your mind”.

Lib Dem group leader David Howarth also offered his best wishes and reflected that the four-year collaboration between his party and Labour “did deliver” for residents.

From Cllr Foster’s own side of the chamber, finance cabinet member Matthew Tomlinson told him that it was “not the end”, but rather “the beginning of a new relationship” between him and the authority.