Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has today announced his Real Opposition team for 2022/23. The announcement comes after a successful set of local elections for the Liberal Democrats which saw the group gain a seat in Saddleworth West and Lees.
Councillor Howard Sykes said: “I am proud to be leading the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council and to be leading a team that is ready to hold the Council and Labour to account. This year we are joined by the newly elected councillor Alicia Marland, who is joining Mark Kenyon and Sam Al-Hamdani making up a formidable team of community champions for Saddleworth West and Lees residents.
“At a time when so many people across the Oldham borough are facing the effects of the Conservative cost-of-living crisis, the Liberal Democrats remain the only group holding Labour to account on Oldham Council, and we shall continue to take that responsibility seriously,” added councillor Sykes.
“Oldham Liberal Democrats will continue to oppose Labour’s indulgent and wasteful spending at the Civic Centre. Now more than ever, we need councillors who will speak out against vanity projects such as £68 million on ‘Spendles’. We need to direct more of our residents’ hard-earned Council Tax money into the front-line services that most matter to people, such as street cleaning, parks maintenance, road repairs, social care and alike,” he said.
“The Liberal Democrats will also be fighting for better facilities and an improved retail and leisure offer in our district centres. We will keep up the pressure on to make sure the new health centre for Shaw and Crompton gets back on track. We shall continue to be opposed to Green Belt development, including Labour’s ‘Places for Everyone’ plan. Our beautiful and unique local environment must be safeguarded for future generations.”
“People expect the Council to get the basics right – that is clearly not the case at the moment and this failure will continue to be our focus that will make a difference to people’s lives. That is what the public have told us they want,” he claimed.
| Councillor | Group role |
| Howard Sykes MBE | Leader |
| Chris Gloster | Deputy leader |
| Louie Hamblett | Chair |
| Diane Williamson | Secretary |
| Hazel Gloster | Treasurer |
| Mark Kenyon | Political secretary |
| Shadow cabinet | Covering |
| Regeneration and Housing Howard Sykes | City Region Economic Growth Strategic Housing Housing quality and enforcement Planning and Building Control Transport Homelessness Landlord Licensing External Relationships and Partnerships Capital projects and investment Borough Strategy |
| Finance and Low Carbon Chris Gloster | Finance Revenues and benefits Energy Green New Deal Corporate Property and Assets Clean Air |
| Culture and Leisure Diane Williamson | Culture Leisure Libraries, Heritage and Arts Sports and sport development Events |
| Education and Skills Sam Al-Hamdani | Education and Skills Education Alliance School Place Planning Looked After Children – educational performance Work and Skills Strategy Lifelong Learning Apprenticeships |
| Neighbourhoods Dave Murphy | Highways Trading Standards and Licensing Registrars and Cemeteries Environmental Services Waste and recycling Parks and Countryside Justice and Community Safety Community Cohesion Emergency Planning Districts |
| Children and Young People Hazel Gloster | Child safeguarding Children’s Partnership Adoption and fostering Children Looked After Children’s health and wellbeing Youth Service Early Years Early Help |
| Health and Social Care Louie Hamblett | Adult Social Services Adult safeguarding Provider services Disability services and adaptations Family support Integrated Care System development Health Improvement Mental Health and wellbeing Isolation |
| Corporate Services Alicia Marland | Workforce and Organisational Development Transformation IT and Digital Customer Services Performance Legal Services |
| Employment and Enterprise Mark Kenyon | Employment Get Oldham Working Employability Business Support Markets Supporting VCSFE sector Social Infrastructure |
| Councillor | Board/committee |
| Chris Gloster | Audit Committee Licensing Committee Traffic Regulation Order Panel |
| Hazel Gloster | Planning Committee |
| Alicia Marland | Health Scrutiny |
| Mark Kenyon | Performance Overview and Scrutiny |
| Diane Williamson | Policy Overview and Scrutiny Standards Board |
| Councillor | District |
| Diane Williamson | Chair, Shaw and Crompton (Vice Chair North District) |
| SAm Al-Hamdani | Official Spokesperson, Saddleworth and Lees (East District) |