Elections and appointments

The Labour Group holds elections for officers and regional representatives every year.

Labour Group Elections

The Labour Group holds elections for Group officers and Regional Representatives every year.

The LGA Chair and Group Leader were elected for two-year terms in 2023, so these positions were not contested this year. As Labour remained the largest party at the LGA following the May 2024 election, the Group again nominated Cllr Shaun Davies as the LGA Chair.

Nominations for the LGA Labour Group officer 2024/25 positions have now closed. All officer positions were uncontested and have therefore been elected unopposed – they will assume their roles at the LGA Labour AGM on 2 July. The full list of LGA Labour Group Officers and Regional Reps positions for 2024/25:

  • LGA Chair: Cllr Shaun Davies (Telford and Wrekin Council)
  • Leader: Cllr Nesil Caliskan (Enfield)
  • Deputy Leader: Cllr Bev Craig (Manchester)
  • Deputy Leader: Cllr Louise Gittins (Cheshire West and Chester)
  • Chair: Cllr Anntoinette Bramble (Hackney)
  • Vice Chair: Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford)
  • Whip: Cllr Amanda Serjeant (Chesterfield)
  • Deputy Whip: Cllr Vince Maple (Medway)
  • Regional Rep, Eastern: Cllr Richard Henry (Stevenage)
  • Regional Rep, East Midlands: Cllr Damien Greenhalgh (High Peak)
  • Regional Rep, London: Cllr Kaya Comer-Schwartz (Islington)
  • Regional Rep, North East: Cllr Carl Johnson (North Tyneside)
  • Regional Rep, North West: Cllr Arooj Shah (Oldham)
  • Regional Rep, South East: Cllr Bella Sankey (Brighton and Hove)
  • Regional Rep, South West: Cllr Chris Penberthy (Plymouth)
  • National Rep, Wales: Cllr Anthony Hunt (Torfaen)
  • Regional Rep, West Midlands: Cllr Dave Welsh (Coventry)
  • Regional Rep, Yorkshire & Humber: Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield)

Congratulations to all and good luck for the year ahead.

Labour appointments to LGA member structures

‘Applications to LGA member structures have now opened, as of Monday 10th June. 

Applicants must submit a self nomination form, which needs to be completed by Friday 12th July. Appointments are made by the Group officers in late July. For further details about this year’s LGA Labour Group elections and appointments please contact Petra Underwood by email at [email protected]

Labour appointments to LGA member structures

Labour Group appointments to LGA member structures are reviewed each year in July by the elected group officers. 

Appointments are made to:

The LGA Labour Group appoints Labour members to sit on the LGA’s policy boards, which are responsible for developing a thorough understanding of council priorities in their policy area and helping to shape the LGA’s policy positions and priorities. There are significant expectations of Labour members who are appointed to boards – please do not apply if you are not willing to meet them. LGA Boards hold up to five formal meetings a year (generally in London), each of which are preceded by a pre-meet for Labour members. Attendance at both the pre-meeting and the board meeting is compulsory, and it is monitored by the Labour Group Chief Whip, with unexplained absences likely to result in removal from the board.

Each board has a named LGA Labour Group lead member, who acts as Chair, Vice-Chair or Deputy Chair. They are considered the lead spokesperson in this policy area for the LGA Labour Group and are expected to be the main political contact with the relevant shadow Cabinet member in Parliament, and ensure effective communication and engagement with Labour in local government via a shadow Cabinet Sounding Board. LGA Labour board members are also expected to actively participate in the LGA Labour Group’s engagement with Labour’s front bench teams through membership of a Sounding Board.

All Labour Councillors on LGA member councils are eligible to apply for the roles by completing a self-nomination form, remembering to obtain the consent of your group leader. Nominations open in May each year and have closed for 2023/24. Appointments are then made by Labour Group Officers, using the principles outlined below.

Labour Group Appointment Principles

Our boards and panels team should:

  • represent the best that local government has to offer 
  • be representative of local government be credible both to Labour Councils and to national politicians.

Labour’s position in local government is changing rapidly. In 2009 Labour controlled just over 30 councils, but Labour is now in control of over 120 councils. In that same time our number of councillors has increased from 4,000 to almost 7,000. We must make sure that as a group we are keeping up with the changes that are happening on the ground.

We need to maintain the integrity of the LGA Labour Group at all times. Therefore the process for making appointments needs to be fair and transparent.

These are the principles that the Labour Group officers must apply:

1. Our team of councillors have to reflect the political realities on the ground and respect local democratic decision making Our appointments should:

  • have more councillors in power 
  • particular attention should be given to council leaders 
  • ideally be cabinet members or shadow cabinet members (With exception of Fire Authorities where members need to be senior members of FAs) 
  • reflect the regional balance of our councillors.

2. A commitment to fairer representation

We should at least match the proportion of women and ethnic minority councillors as there amongst all Labour Councillors and should improve on it.

3. Our appointments should involve as many councils as possible

We should have no more than two councillors per authority.

4. Our appointments should maintain the reputation of Labour in local government

Our appointments on relevant boards should not come from authorities that services are subjected to restrictions for poor performance or have serious reputation problems on that particular service.

5. Re-appointments should take into consideration performance and attendance of the councillor over the past year

6. Appointments should only go to councillors from authorities that are in full membership of the LGA

Councillors from authorities that are on notice to leave the LGA should not receive places.

For further details about this year’s LGA Labour Group elections and appointments you can contact Martin Angus by email: [email protected]