THE new leader of BCP Council has pledged to “bring some stability and professionalism” to the job and to work with other parties.

Conservative Cllr Philip Broadhead stepped up from the deputy leader’s role to replace Cllr Drew Mellor, who quit last week with a swipe at “civil servant and Treasury orthodoxy”.

Cllr Broadhead was elected unopposed to the leadership at an extraordinary meeting of the full council.

He was nominated by long-serving Conservative Cllr Anne Filer, who said: “I have to confess that I’m a Phil Broadhead groupie. I always have been. He’s an immensely likeable, highly intelligent, very capable person and passionate about this area.

“He’s such a perfect representative for us. He’s articulate, he can explain difficult concepts clearly, he listens carefully and he’s quick to take on board other people’s ideas and opinions.”

She said Cllr Broadhead and his family had lived in all three of the local authority’s towns.

Seconding his nomination, Cllr Jane Kelly said: “Phil has always been a people person, very approachable and eager to listen to ideas from others and, if appropriate, happily take them on.

“He is happy to work cross party which is something that has become very important in recent times when some really challenging national circumstances have meant that as a council we’ve had to work differently to support and serve our residents."

She added: "Phil’s greatest talents lie in being able to influence without confrontation, to question without anger and to accept criticism gracefully. I’m convinced he will make an excellent leader of this council.”

Cllr Broadhead said: “I’m absolutely honoured to accept the position and really moved by the kind words that have been said this evening – at least 60 per cent of which I’m sure are true perhaps – but it’s obviously a great honour to be the third leader of BCP Council.

“I view my job over the next few months to bring some stability, hopefully some experience and professionalism to the final days of this term as we move towards local elections in May.

"As Cllr Kelly has said, we are not in a majority council at the moment. It’s absolutely vital that we work cross-party which is something that I’ve been doing even over the past week and I thank other group leaders in that effort as well.”

He added: “Thank you very much for putting your faith in me and I hope not to let you down.”

Later in the meeting, Cllr Andy Martin congratulated Cllr Broadhead and pointed out there were 72 days until local elections – “so he might last longer than Liz Truss or a lettuce”.