Council leader stepping down at election

Lezley Picton moved to Shropshire in 1998 to work for Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council

The leader of a council that almost ran out of money last year has said she will not be standing for re-election.

Lezley Picton, who has led the Conservative groups on Shropshire Council since 2021, blamed the Labour government's plans to reorganise local authorities for her decision.

The 63-year-old also pointed the finger at successive governments for underfunding councils, which has led to several of them being forced to effectively declare bankruptcy.

Picton dismissed an accusation that she was quitting politics because her party was at risk of losing control of the council on 1 May.

Her main reason for turning away from politics is her opposition to the government's long-term plan to form larger councils, which could see the already unitary Shropshire Council merge with neighbouring authorities.

Devolution plans will also see England divided up into "strategic authorities", each with a directly elected mayor, who would get unprecedented powers over house building, transport and growth.

"A lot of these decisions aren't going to be made locally and it will take away the very essence of local government," she said.

"I don't see it as devolution, I see it as centralisation, so I'm not the right person to take people forward.

"I've been in local government for four decades and I've seen this before when we got rid of districts for unitaries, and who lost out? – the residents."

Picton will be retiring in May after four decades in local governmant

Picton took control of Shropshire Council in 2021 at a time when all five of the county's MPs were Conservative, as well as a central government led by Boris Johnson.

The collapse of the Conservative vote in recent elections has diversified both national and local politics.

Her administration has also been hampered by a funding crisis, which has downsized the council and reduced its level of function.

Last year alone the council found savings of almost £50m, which is about 20% of its net budget.

The leader warned of being "unbelievably close" to bankruptcy in October, with social care demands outpacing the means to fund it.

The decision to charge £56 a year for garden waste collections and the introduction of a booking system for the county's household tips were both unpopular with residents.

'Proud of not going bust'

"I don't think people understand how hard the Conservatives have worked over the past four years to keep the wolf from the door, and not running out of money is my proudest achievement," she said.

"We've had to make really unpopular decisions, but whoever takes control of the council, they'll have exactly the same problem, because unless we're better funded, then we'll have to keep cutting and cutting and cutting.

"If my legacy is that we've been the ones that have steered the ship through the worst four years of local government finance ever, then I'm happy with that, I'll accept it."

For the past eight years, Picton has been the Conservative councillor for the Tern division near Shrewsbury.

Her plans for retirement include taking a gap year and spending more time with her family.

Local elections take place on 1 May.