Key political appointments made at council AGM

Posted on: Tuesday 16 May 2023

At the annual general meeting (AGM) of Torfaen council on Tuesday 16 May, the key political appointments to the council's cabinet, committees and outside bodies were confirmed for the year ahead. 

The first act of the AGM was to appoint a new Presiding Member and Deputy Presiding Member for the municipal year 2023/24, to chair council meetings. 

Cllr Rose Seabourne was re-elected as the council’s Presiding Member and Cllr Stuart Ashley was elected as Deputy Presiding Member. 

Following nominations for the position of Leader of the Council, Cllr Anthony Hunt received a majority vote and was duly re-elected.  Cllr Richard Clark was re-elected as Deputy Leader of the Council and will also hold the portfolio for Children, Families and Education. 

All Cabinet members have been re-appointed to the following portfolios for the year ahead:

  • Executive Member for Children, Families and Education – Cllr Richard Clark
  • Executive Member for Communities – Cllr Fiona Cross
  • Executive Member for Environment – Cllr Mandy Owen
  • Executive Member for Resources – Cllr Sue Morgan
  • Executive Member for Corporate Governance and Performance – Cllr Peter Jones
  • Executive Member for Adult Services and Housing - Cllr David Daniels
  • Executive Member for Economy, Skills and Regeneration - Cllr Joanne Gauden

The Chairs of Committees were all elected as follows:

  • Chair of the Healthier Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Cllr Janet Jones
  • Chair of the Prosperous Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Cllr Mark Jones
  • Chair of the Cleaner Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Cllr David Williams
  • Chair of the Education Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Cllr Rose Seabourne
  • Chair of the Cross-cutting Resources and Business Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Cllr Stuart Ashley
  • Chair of the Planning Committee - Cllr Norma Parish
  • Chair of the Licensing Committee - Cllr Steven Evans
  • Chair of the Pensions Committee - Cllr Nathan Yeowell
  • Chair of the Democratic Services Committee - Cllr Ron Burnett
  • Chair of Audit Committee – to be elected by the committee

In accepting his appointment as Leader of Torfaen Council, Anthony Hunt thanked the Presiding Member, council staff and community volunteers for their hard work over the past year. Speaking in the council chamber, Cllr Hunt added:

“There are many challenges we face right now such as keeping household bills down, addressing climate change and sustainability, improving care, standards of education, our local environment and making Torfaen a better place to work and do business. These are just a few of the issues we will need to address by working together at all levels of government, and I am looking forward to working with members of every political persuasion.”

The 90 seats on various committees and sub committees are allocated based on political balance. The majority labour group are allocated 72 seats with 10 seats allocated for the Independent group and 8 seats allocated to the Torfaen Independent group.

Cllr Chris Tew continues as Leader of the Independent group (the largest opposition group), who nominated Cllr Mark Jones to Chair of the Prosperous Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Cllr Ron Burnett continues as Leader of Torfaen Independent group (the second largest opposition group), who nominated Cllr Janet Jones to Chair of the Healthier Communities O&S Committee.

The council also made nominations to outside bodies including the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Torfaen Leisure Trust, Bron Afon Community Housing and the Brecon Beacons National park and nominated several champions.

  • Age Friendly Champion - Cllr David Daniels
  • Equalities & Diversity Champion - Cllr Peter Jones
  • Anti-Poverty Champion - Cllr Anthony Hunt
  • Young Person’s Champion - Cllr Richard Clark
  • Members Training & Development Champion - Cllr Ron Burnett
  • Armed Forces Champion - Cllr Gaynor James
  • Carers Champion - Cllr David Daniels
  • Sustainability Champion - Cllr Stuart Ashley
  • World Heritage Champion - Cllr Janet Jones
  • Motor Neuron Disease (MND) - Cllr Giles Davies
  • Dementia Champion - Cllr Mandy Owen
Last Modified: 16/05/2023 Back to top