Paul Jenks is to step down from his chairmanship of the Local Government Association's housing executive after losing his Southampton council seat.
Vice chair Richard Kemp is to take over as interim chair.

Jenks, who lost his seat by 44 votes to Conservative Gavin Dick, was unavailable for comment.

He was just one of 833 Labour councillors to lose their seats in last Thursday's elections. Labour lost control of 28 English councils and staff are now waiting to see what change this will bring.

One of Labour's highest-profile losses was Birmingham, which shifted to no overall control.

Birmingham had been a Labour stronghold for almost 20 years. Labour's Sandra Jenkinson, spokesperson for housing, was among four cabinet members to lose their seats. Council leader Sir Albert Bore has until the middle of May to form a coalition.

But a council spokesperson said the upheaval would not block the implementation of the recommendations made by an independent housing commission last year in the wake of a "no" vote to transfer. The commission, chaired by Professor Anne Power of the London School of Economics, called for small-scale transfers. The spokesperson said: "The commission's findings were backed by a cross-party consensus and there is no sign that there has been any change."

Further north, Labour's loss of Trafford to no overall control was not expected to reverse the recent decision to apply to transfer its 10,500 homes. Labour is expected to join with the Liberal Democrats to form a majority.

Labour also lost control of two councils in the government's housing growth areas: Castle Point in the Thames Gateway and Northampton in the South Midlands area.

But it fared better in elections for the Scottish parliament and Welsh Assembly: in Scotland, the Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition remained in power, and Labour gained a majority in Wales.

Source

Housing Today