I believe in strong leadership. Leadership to me is about working with and encouraging colleagues to be their best and creating an environment which allows everyone to flourish.

We are dealing with unprecedented times in terms of the financial challenges facing the council. Taking £161 million of new savings out of our budget over the next 5five years is a huge task. This equates to making savings of £540 million of spending power. A huge amount. This means tough decisions will have to be made and elected members will need to be strong in making and owning those decisions.

Now is not the time for wishy washy politicians.