Middlesbrough Labour Group

Working for Middlesbrough

LABOUR IN MIDDLESBROUGH

Introduction

Labour in Middlesbrough is a party bound to its founding principles of equality, social justice and strong communities. We are a democratic socialist party that believes that we achieve more by working together than by acting alone, a party that will strive to create the means for everybody to realise their true potential and a party that is building a free, tolerant, respectful society where power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few.

We are determined to achieve this in Middlesbrough by implementing policies that support children and learning, promote healthier, safer and stronger communities, transform our local environment, meet our transport needs and promote the economic vitality of the town.

We hope that this website will explain what Labour is doing in Middlesbrough and how we will continue to take the town forward. It will also tell you a little more about your representatives in the Town Hall, their work and how you can contact them. The structure of the Council is outlined and, for those of you from outside the Tees Valley, the site allows you to probe further into the background and beauty of Middlesbrough.

Heading in the Right Direction

We think that Middlesbrough has made considerable progress over the past four years and is clearly heading in the right direction. The 2005 Neighbourhood Survey showed that 79% of people were proud of Middlesbrough, 64% thought it was improving and 68% believed that the town was a good place to live. As a Group, we are passionate about Middlesbrough and believe that under Labour we can take the town to where it wants and needs to be.

However, we are realistic enough to realise that there is much more that needs to be done and we will continue to strive to pursue these goals to make Middlesbrough the progressive, vibrant, and community-based town that its people deserve.

The Labour Group

The Labour Group in Middlesbrough is made up of 26 councillors representing areas all across the town. The Group meets approximately once a month. Group meetings focus on upcoming party and council business, campaigning activities, policy discussions and other issues of note affecting the town. All members are committed to Labour's fundamental values of equality, social justice and respect for all. Members are grouped together as it is our belief that by working together we can achieve more for the town than being a loan voice with no influence or input.

All members' have different interests (as you can see by going to the 'Your Labour Councillors' page here) - for example, Steve Bloundele is Chair of the full Council, Mike Carr is the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Board and John McPartland Chair of the Planning Committee - but all have in common their commitment to taking Middlesbrough forward.

Some members of the Labour Group are part of the Council's Executive, or Cabinet. They are;

David Budd, who looks after Regeneration and Culture
Barry Coppinger, who deals with Transport
Jan Brunton, the member responsible for Social Care
Paul Thompson, member for Economic Development
Nicky Walker, who looks after Resources
Pervaz Khan, the member responsible for Streetscene
Bob Kerr, who is currently the Deputy Mayor

Labour holds 7 of the 9 Executive positions, with independents, Brenda Thompson and Ron Lowes, taking the Children, Families and Learning and Transport portfolios respectively. You can get more information on the set up of the Council by clicking on the 'About the Council' page or going here.

Six Group observers attend Group and Executive meetings, appointed by the Local Government Committee, which in turn is made up of representatives of the two Middlesbrough Constituency Labour Party branches.

Group Executive

The Executive of the Group, which meets approximately once a month, is the Group's ruling body and is made up of the following members;

The Leader is David Budd, who has been in this position since 2005. The role of the leader is to act as the public face of the Group.
Deputy Leader is Jan Brunton, who has been Deputy for almost two years.
The Chair is Steve Bloundele, whose job is to oversee Group and Executive meetings and ensure everybody's voice is heard.
The Deputy Chair is Charles Rooney, recently elected to the position in May 2006.
The Treasurer, who looks after all financial activities of the Group, is Julia Rostron.
The Group Secretary is Nicky Walker.
John McPartland is the Group's Whip, assisted by Mike Carr, and it is their job to deal with Group discipline.