By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter
The new leader of Southampton City Council has been elected.
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Sarah Bogle becomes the fourth Labour leader of the council in two-and-a-half years.
The Bargate ward representative was formally appointed uncontested at the annual general meeting on Wednesday, May 20.
She takes on the top job which was vacant after Labour’s Alex Winning failed to retain his seat in this month’s local elections.
Council leader Sarah Bogle speaking alongside her Labour cabinet in the council chamber. Photo: LDRS
Cllr Bogle said: “I recognise we are in different times now.
“It is not a majority, we didn’t win a majority of the vote.
“We are seeking to govern as a minority administration and the people out there will probably not understand this one jot.
“They will say why are Labour still in power.
“We have 24 out of the 51 seats, so we are the biggest party.”
Cllr Bogle said she recognised the council faced the opposition of four parties, and added: “You have got 27 votes between you.”
She added: “We have got to work with you, and we will and we work collaboratively.
“I am not a dictator. We have to work together and find common ground as much as we can, but I still stick to our Labour principles.
“I am here because of the Labour Party.
“We have a set of values and principles that we strongly adhere to around fairness, equality and equality of opportunity and we want to the best for the city according to those values and I’m not going to shy away from that.”
The new leader announced appointments to fill cabinet vacancies created after the polls on May 7.
Jacqui Rayment will take on responsibility for transport, Christian Cox is now the political lead for adult social care and health, and Sally Goodfellow will head up housing.
Cllr Bogle will retain responsibility for economic development alongside being leader.
The new leader, who became visibly emotional when speaking about former ward colleague John Noon after his election defeat, said: “The electorate sent us a message.
“They weren’t happy and clearly they sent a message to national government because they are in turmoil, but we are here and we are determined to actually make a difference for the city and continue to build on the good work that has been done to date.”
The updated cabinet team and their portfolios is as follows:
Sarah Bogle – leader, economic development, growth and skills
Simon Letts – deputy leader, finance and resources
Amanda Barnes-Andrews – children and learning
Christian Cox – adult social care and health
Sally Goodfellow – housing
Toqeer Kataria – leisure and communities
John Savage – environment and net zero
Jacqui Rayment – transport
This article is from the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Some alterations/additions may have been made by our site - a BBC Local News Partnerships member. BBC-funded LDRS journalists cover local authorities and public service organisations, with content shared by all partners.