CORNWALL COUNCIL - NEW LIB DEM SHADOW CABINET ANNOUNCED

Cornwall Council's Liberal Democrats have unveiled their new Shadow Cabinet and Leadership team at their AGM in St Austell this week.

Following the recent retirement of Doris Ansari (centre) as Group Leader at Cornwall Council, Jeremy Rowe (left) has been elected to replace her and Alex Folkes (right) has been chosen as the new Deputy Leader. The Lib Dems have also unveiled their new Shadow Cabinet team who will be aiming to call the struggling Conservative/Independent coalition at County Hall to account after a series of recent blunders.

Welcoming two new members to the Shadow Cabinet Jeremy Rowe said: "In Nathan Bale and Geoff Brown we have two Councillors who are well known for their hard work in their communities. They will bring valuable expertise to the areas of Health and Housing - two of the most serious issues facing Cornwall today. The Tory-led administration in Truro are clearly failing and it falls to us to make sure that they are properly scrutinised and called to account."

Alex Folkes added: "There is a leadership vacuum at County Hall as the people who are meant to be running the Council are too busy fighting amongst themselves instead of doing the job the Cornish people expect them to do. Our Shadow team is made up of a talented group of committed individuals who have already started working hard to make sure the voices of the people outside the concrete walls of County Hall are heard."

The selection of the new Lib Dem leadership team is in stark contrast to the recent bungled attempt by the Conservative Council group to dislodge their own leader. Alec Robertson only narrowly won a confidence vote and now faces the prospect of limping on for the next two years without the support of around half of his own backbenchers.

Jeremy Rowe said: "It is more important than ever that we challenge the Council's Cabinet. They have become more and more remote as the months have rolled on and it falls to us to provide the constructive critical input that they have lacked from their own benches."