Oldham's new council leader vows to regain voters' trust

Amanda Chadderton says she wants to support people through the cost of living crisis and deliver regeneration projects

The new leader of Oldham Council has vowed to "regain trust" and prove she was on residents' side.

Councillor Amanda Chadderton has been selected to lead the city's Labour group after Arooj Shah lost her seat in the local elections.

Former deputy to Ms Shah, she said she planned to support people through the cost of living crisis as well as deliver on "big regeneration projects".

"There's a lot of work to do, but I'm ready to do that work," she said.

Labour lost five seats in the 5 May local elections, but remains in overall control with 35 councillors.

"It's been a difficult two years for the Labour group in Oldham," the Royton South councillor said.

"I think that a lot of people felt that the council was not on their side and, as a point of that, Labour wasn't on their side".

She said the cost of living crisis was foremost in her mind after it was brought up by the "vast majority" of residents during campaigning.

"We don't want more people to be pushed even further into poverty over the next 12 months. As a council we need to be geared up to support those residents," she said.

Ms Chadderton also acknowledged slow progress with larger regeneration projects in the town including the redevelopment of Spindles and the old library.

"We need to make sure over the next 12 months they do come to fruition," she added.

The publication of the report into alleged Child Sexual Exploitation in Oldham will also be another key priority, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Ms Chadderton said it had "hung over" the council for two and a half years and it took time to regain trust.

Her position as new council leader will be ratified at the authority's annual meeting later this month.

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