Political Post Holders

The County Council

The roles of Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the county council are appointed at the Annual General Meeting of the Full Council held in May and are held for a period of one year. The roles are held by councillors and are non-political.

PostsCurrent Postholder
Chairman of the County CouncilCounty Councillor Tim Ashton
Vice Chairman of the County CouncilCounty Councillor Alf Clempson

Executive Posts

The posts below are members of the Executive (Cabinet). The Cabinet Members have been allocated different areas of responsibility by the Leader, as indicated by their post titles below.

Ordinarily decisions in these areas of responsibility will be taken by the Cabinet collectively or by officers under the Scheme of Delegation to Heads of Service. Any urgent decisions which cannot await the next meeting of the Cabinet shall be approved by the Leader (or in his/her absence, the Deputy Leader) and the relevant Cabinet Member.

PostsCurrent Postholder
Leader of the County Council County Councillor Phillippa Williamson
Cabinet Member for Resources, HR and Property (Deputy Leader) County Councillor Alan Vincent
Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care County Councillor Graham Gooch
Cabinet Member for Children and Families County Councillor Cosima Towneley
Cabinet Member for Community and Cultural Services County Councillor Peter Buckley
Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Growth County Councillor Aidy Riggott
Cabinet Member for Education and Skills County Councillor Jayne Rear
Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change County Councillor Shaun Turner
Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing County Councillor Michael Green
Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport County Councillor Rupert Swarbrick

Lead Members

Lead Members are appointed by Cabinet and whilst lead members are not able to take any decisions themselves, they lead on specific areas to be determined by the relevant Cabinet Member. They also can represent or be deputise for the relevant Cabinet Member as necessary. The current Lead Members and the area they lead on, are listed below:

PostsCurrent Postholder
Lead Member for Cultural Services and SkillsCounty Councillor Ash Sutcliffe
Lead Member for Economic Development and EnvironmentCounty Councillor Carole Haythornthwaite
Lead Member for Finance and ResourcesCounty Councillor Mike Goulthorp
Lead Member for HealthCounty Councillor Mrs Sue Whittam
Lead Member for Highways and Active TravelCounty Councillor Scott Smith

Champions

Champion appointments are made by Cabinet and their responsibility is to advise the Leader and Cabinet Members in the areas that they are the Champion for. The current county council Champions and the areas they advise in are listed below.

Each of the county council Champions is allocated a sum of £10,000 per annum for use at their discretion to finance their activities including:

PostsCurrent Postholder
Champion for Armed Forces and VeteransCounty Councillor Alf Clempson
Champion for Disabled PeopleCounty Councillor Peter Britcliffe
Champion for Mental HealthCounty Councillor Stuart C Morris
Champion for Older PeopleCounty Councillor Joan Burrows
Champion for Parishes County Councillor Paul Rigby
Champion for Young PeopleCounty Councillor Loraine Cox

Opposition Spokespersons

The largest opposition group (the Labour Group) have nominated the following spokespeople:

PortfolioPostholder
Leader of the OppositionCounty Councillor Matthew Tomlinson
Deputy Leader of the OppositionCounty Councillor Jennifer Mein
Adult Social CareCounty Councillor Erica Lewis
Children and FamiliesCounty Councillor Samara Barnes
Community and Cultural ServicesCounty Councillor Jean Parr
Economic Development and GrowthCounty Councillor Julie Gibson
Education and SkillsCounty Councillor Noordad Aziz
Environment and Climate ChangeCounty Councillor Mark Clifford
Health and WellbeingCounty Councillor Jennifer Mein
Highways and TransportCounty Councillor Kim Snape
Resources, HR, PropertyCounty Councillor Matthew Tomlinson