New leader of Nottinghamshire County Council Sam Smith, county councillor for Newark East said he will be “banging the drum” for Newark
The new leader of Nottinghamshire County Council has said he will be “banging the drum” for Newark and will prioritise libraries, schools, and roads.
Sam Smith, 27, county councillor for Newark East, became one of the youngest council leaders in the country today (Thursday).
Mr Smith said that the new tagline he promises is to ‘deliver deliver deliver’ between now and the election in May 2025, and in Newark he will promise to mend more of our area’s roads and invest in more libraries, as well as keeping bus routes open.
“We’ve done a lot of work to keep rural bus routes open, the 90 bus in Newark in particular, and we’ve got small weekend bus routes and and will continue to provide rural bus routes and will be banging on doors to get money invested into our roads and improving education,” he said.
Mr Smith said that he is pledging to maintain Newark’s schools at their current levels:
“Before this Conservative administration, our schools needed improvement and now they’re ‘Good’ and ‘Outstanding’ and my leadership will look to sustain that and provide good jobs for the future and focus on providing these opportunities for young people.”
He said that the council has a “proud record” of delivering libraries in the community and has spent £60million of road improvements, and in Newark a £10million capital programme invested in the community.
“The council has faced pressures across the the county, not helped by the Labour government’s Budget adding to our pressures,” he said, “But we’ve got a well-managed budget here and we will keep council tax low.”
Mr Smith said that he may be young, but having experience in the political world since he was 13 years old, he brings more than enough experience to the table, and that he will being a lot of energy to the role.
First on the agenda following his appointment, he said, was to ensure the budget is well balanced and to make sure the county council goes from strength to strength.
He also said that he will continue to “bang the drum” for Newark and continue to promote everything our town has to offer.
“As a proud member for Newark, I will stop the plans for glass on grass and keep our schools good and the libraries open, and do all I can for Newark,” he said.
“We’ve got so many attractions here including the beautiful Newark Castle and it’s really important to fly the flag for Newark.”
As for the Election in May, Mr Smith said that he was “quite confident” that his party would emerge victorious in the polls:
“I’m more confident than I was in July, Labour have done a terrible job making people choose between heating and eating and farmers across the county are being affected, and that’s the option people will be left with if they vote for Labour and not Conservative.
“These solar like the Great North Solar and we will fight against them with the residents of Newark and Nottinghamshire to get rid of the glass on the grass.”
