Wakefield Council leader appoints new deputy, with more Cabinet changes expected in January

Council leader Denise Jeffery has appointed Jack Hemingway as her new deputy.

Councillor Jack Hemingway, will serve as second-in-command to new leader Denise Jeffery, who was deputy herself for more than a decade before taking charge of the council on December 1.

Coun Hemmingway, who is 30, will also take up the newly created position as Cabinet member for climate change.

The announcement was confirmed to fellow Labour councillors on Monday night, before being made public on Tuesday.

Coun Jeffery, said: "I am delighted that Coun Hemingway is taking up the post of deputy leader and I very much look forward to us working together.

"I am also pleased that Jack will be leading the climate change portfolio, which has been established to give our carbon neutral commitment the political support, drive and scrutiny I believe, something this important, needs."

Coun Hemingway has been a councillor for Stanley and Outwood East since 2017, having previously served as an elected member for Horbury and South Ossett between 2012 and 2016.

In another new appointment, Councillor Darren Byford has been appointed as the new Cabinet member for economic growth and regeneration - a post previous held by Coun Jeffery.

His deputy will be Pontefract South councillor George Ayre.

A further Cabinet reshuffle is expected to take place in the new year.

Local Democracy Reporting Service