The LGA has a new chair – and only its second female chair – after Cllr Shaun Davies stood down having been elected MP for Telford in the general election.
Cllr Louise Gittins has served as Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council since 2019, having previously served as Deputy Leader from 2015. She was first elected as a councillor in 2011, and had been Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People policy board since 2022.
Cllr Gittins said: “I am excited and honoured to be taking up this important cross-party role on behalf of councils of all types and political colours across the country.
“We are entering a period of huge change, but also opportunity, and my immediate priority is working with the new Government on a fundamental reset of the relationship between central and local government, one of trust and mutual respect.”
Elsewhere, Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, has been selected as Leader of the LGA’s Labour Group, after her predecessor, Cllr Nesil Caliskan, was elected MP for Barking.
Eve Roodhouse, currently Chief Officer, Culture and Economy, at Leeds City Council, will be joining the LGA as Interim Director of Strategy from August. Nicky Old, Director of Communications, is leaving for a new job as Director of Communications at the Publishers Association.
Sarah Pickup, the LGA’s Deputy Chief Executive since 2015 and previously Deputy Chief Executive of Hertfordshire County Council, has retired after 40 years’ continuous service to local government.
- See ‘Hope to change’ for an interview with Cllr Louise Gittins, LGA Chair.