Windsor and Maidenhead council boss to leave for Somerset Council

Duncan Sharkey will leave the Berkshire council next year

The chief executive of a Berkshire council will leave next year to lead a newly-formed authority in Somerset.

Duncan Sharkey was appointed chief executive of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) in 2019.

He will earn a salary of £195,000 a year to lead the new unitary Somerset Council, which will be formed from the county's five authorities, from April.

Mr Sharkey said while he was "very sad" to leave Berkshire, he faced an "exciting challenge" in Somerset.

His appointment was approved by Somerset County Council at a meeting on Wednesday.

'Star centre-forward'

"I know I am leaving RBWM in a much stronger place, and I wish my colleagues, the council and its partners every success for the future," Mr Sharkey said.

Councillor Andrew Johnson, RBWM's leader, said: "Duncan has been a fantastic leader for our staff and he has worked extremely hard to ensure that the council was transformed with a more trusting, open and transparent culture."

Somerset councillors recently defended the new boss's pay packet, saying they needed "a star centre-forward" to oversee the "massive changes".

The Labour opposition group argued the size of salaries paid to some senior staff was "wrong".