Calls for opposition representation on shadow devolution board | Manchester News

Opposition leaders in Cheshire have asked to be given places on the board setting up Cheshire and Warrington’s new combined authority.

The shadow combined authority board is made up of the leaders and deputy leaders of the three authorities – five of which are Labour politicians and one independent – alongside two other non-voting members.

But Cheshire East Council Conservative leader Stewart Gardiner called for the Conservatives on Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester councils, as well as the Liberal Democrats on Warrington Council, to be given positions on the board.

The calls were made at the first meeting of the shadow combined authority, ahead of it coming into force in early 2026.

The Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority is set to be in place by the end of March 2026, with the area’s first mayoral elections due to take place in May 2027.

Cheshire East Council is currently led by a coalition between Labour and independents, although the Conservatives have the largest number of councillors.

Cheshire West and Chester Council is in no overall control; Labour has the largest party, with 35 seats, while the Conservatives have 21.

For Warrington Council, Labour have 40 of the 58 seats, while Liberal Democrat councillors hold 12 seats.

Lynn Gibbon, a Conservative councillor on Cheshire West and Chester Council, told a meeting on Friday, opposition groups within the individual authorities “have no voice at the table” regarding the new combined authority.

“Without formal opposition representation there’s no internal challenge,” she said.

She called for the leaders of the opposition groups to be added to the board “at least as non-voting members”.

Stewart Gardiner, the Conservative group leader on Cheshire East Council, said Cheshire was a different proposition to neighbouring areas which had introduced devolution where there was often a “large incidence of one political group across the piste”.

“I’m not crying for my own sake,” he said. “I’m concerned about what happens going forward – particularly as none of us know who will be sitting here in 2027.”

“We should have a system that operates fairly.”

Both Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester Councils will be holding all-out elections in 2027.

“All I’m asking is, as the official opposition on two of the councils, that our positions are represented – and also, given the position of the Liberal Democrats in Warrington, they should have a position on this table,” he said.

The board agreed to note the comments.

Cheshire West and Chester leader Louise Gittens was confirmed as chair and Cheshire East’s Nick Mannion as deputy, while the Police and Crime Commissioner and the chair of the Cheshire and Warrington Business Advisory Board were confirmed as non-voting members of the board.

Louise Gittens said she believed devolution could be summed up in the word “opportunity”.

“We’ve got a lot to do, we haven’t got very long, and let’s get cracking,” she said.