PRESS RELEASE: Cllr Caroline Reeves stands down as Lib Dem leader of Guildford Borough Council

Tonight, at the meeting of Guildford Borough Council's Executive Lib Dem councillor Caroline Reeves announced her resignation as Leader of the Council. Following the meeting she explained her decision:

"Earlier in this year I shared with residents that, as promised, I had reviewed the leadership arrangements at Guildford Borough Council and had agreed with Joss Bigmore, leader of Residents for Guildford and the Villages (R4GV) to transfer leadership to him in the Autumn. This decision, while perhaps unusual, was made with the interests of the residents of Guildford Borough at its' very heart - in the May 2019 elections the Lib Dems and R4GV won 17 and 15 seats respectively and it was clear that residents were looking for a new, more collaborative approach to running our Council. Tonight, I made good on that promise.

Following discussions with R4GV it was agreed that this handover should take place at the 6 October Full Council meeting, and so I formally resigned as leader this evening with the decision coming into effect at midnight tonight.

This may seem a strange time to be changing the Council leadership right now, and I should explain for residents that the original agreement between the Lib Dems and R4GV was that this should happen a year after the borough elections in May of 2019. However, given that we were in the early stages of the pandemic I felt very strongly that such an action would be detrimental to the borough as we were all living through an unprecedented and life changing situation. Ironically, we are still in the midst of the pandemic, and I suspect that we are about to face a surge in cases and new guidance changes to try and manage this. I have assured R4GV's leader and GBC's Deputy Council Leader Cllr Bigmore that the officers here in Guildford will offer exemplary support. I cannot over emphasise what an amazing team we have supporting residents through this, the most challenging of circumstances.

After the borough elections in May 2019 we had a large number of new councillors and shielding, self-isolation and lockdown have not been the best introduction to the vagaries of local government! The difference between being part of the system and working in the private sector are many and can be hard to understand at the best of times. Those of us who have been part of this world for longer are perhaps better placed to appreciate the strength of leadership that our management team has shown throughout the evolution of the strange world that we find ourselves in. The support that I have had has been invaluable and I hope that this teamwork will continue.

As I've said already, a handover like this is unusual in local government but I have always said that it was clear from the votes cast in May 2019 that the residents of Guildford were looking for a new kind of politics, and the Lib Dems and I are committed to delivering that. I wish Cllr Bigmore all the best as he prepares to take over the leadership and I look forward to continuing to work with him and R4GV as part of the shared Lib Dem - R4GV Executive. These are difficult times thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic but I know that together we can continue to deliver for the people of Guildford Borough

Finally, for myself I would like to thank a few close friends who have helped me to maintain a semblance of normality and I look forward to having a better work/life balance in the months ahead.

It has been an honour to serve the residents of Guildford Borough as Leader of Guildford Borough Council."

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