'It's been an honour': Council leader steps down

Conservative Martin Tett is standing down after fourteen years as a council leader in Buckinghamshire

A council leader who is standing down to take a backbench role after fourteen years called it an "absolute pleasure and an honour" to serve residents.

Conservative Martin Tett took charge of the old Buckinghamshire county council in 2011, before becoming leader of the unitary authority that replaced it in 2020.

But Tett told the BBC he now had a "new partner and grandson, plus an enormous pile of books by the bed" so it "seemed like a good time to step down".

He told the BBC he planned to remain in a backbench role until at least the next local elections in 2029.

Martin Tett moved to the area in 1981 and has been a councillor for 20 years

The Conservatives are still the largest party in the authority, but fell just one vote short of the 49 councillors needed for a majority at the local elections.

Tett said: "I am sure there will be people saying I am only doing this because we have lost our majority, but that is absolutely untrue."

He added: "It is one of those things I have talked about a lot with my partner, and we always had this particular date in mind."

'No regrets'

Tett said that among the highlights of his tenure was when he led A campaign against the HS2 rail scheme through Buckinghamshire.

He admitted opposing it did him "no favours with the then Conservative government" but he was "very proud to be part of that and had no regrets".

"A lot of the changes made to the way HS2 was planned have come about because of that campaign," he added.

He said he was also "immensely proud" of helping create the Buckinghamshire unitary authority that replaced the old county and four district councils in 2020.

He claimed it was "absolutely the right thing to do", adding that "it pre-empted what the government is doing now, which is introducing unitaries across the rest of the country".

Martin Tett said one of his proudest moments was supervising the switch from the old two tier council system to the new unitary authority in 2020

'Potholes are always fun'

However, he acknowledged that "probably the most difficult times" were the financial challenges the council faced "each and every year" when it set its annual budget.

He also admitted he would not miss hearing the word 'potholes', but said that they were "always fun because every resident raises it", although the "majority of residents" realise fixing them is a "national problem" rather than being specific to Buckinghamshire.

'Classic local councillor stuff'

Tett said local government had changed since 2011, with authorities now having "less money than they had" to "deliver what they are charged to do".

He said he intended to continue representing his Chalfont St Giles & Little Chalfont ward and already had lots of "letters about just about everything from trees to fences - all the classic local councillor stuff."

He is expected to formally step down on 21 May.