Lib Dem Team Means First Woman Chair of a Political Group in Leeds (Leeds Liberal Democrats)

Leeds Liberal Democrats <info@leedslibdems.org.uk>

Lib Dem Team Means First Woman Chair of a Political Group in Leeds

May 12, 2003 12:00 AM

Councillor Mark Harris was last week re-elected as Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Leeds City Council for 2003/04. Cllr Stewart Golton was elected as Deputy Leader, and Cllr Richard Harker as Whip. The Group also trod new ground by electing Cllr Brenda Lancaster as Chair of the Group, the first woman to hold such a post for a political group on the City Council.

Cllr Harris said "I'm very glad to receive my colleagues support to continue as Group Leader for the coming year, a particularly important one as it will lead up to the all out elections for the Council in June 2004. I'm also proud of the fact that our Group has elected Cllr Brenda Lancaster to the position of Chair of the Group, as far as I am aware the first woman to Chair a Group on the Council here in Leeds."

"The last elections saw mixed fortunes for Liberal Democrats, but we were the only Group on the Council to increase our vote both in percentage terms and in real numbers. We are well placed to take advantage of the new boundaries on which next years elections will be fought with advances in key areas such as Kirkstall, Burmantofts and University."

"Cllr Brenda Lancaster added "I am very pleased to accept my colleagues support and take on the role of Chair of the Liberal Democrat Group. Women Councillors are faced with a glass ceiling in politics, as in many other fields of life, and I hope I will repay the trust which the Group has placed in me."