At the annual meeting of Durham County Council, Councillor Robbie Rodiss was elected as Chair and Councillor Jackie Teasdale as Vice Chair. Councillor Andrew Husband was elected as Leader of the Council, who then announced his Deputy Leader and Cabinet members. The council also approved the scheme of delegation as set out in the Council's Constitution.

Election of Chair and Vice Chair

Councillor Robbie Rodiss was elected as Chair of the council, succeeding Councillor Joan Nicholson. Councillor Richard Bell had also been nominated for the position. After the vote, Councillor Rodiss quoted:

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?

He also thanked everyone who voted for him, and acknowledged that others didn't, but that's democracy .

Councillor Jackie Teasdale was elected as Vice Chair of the council.

Leader's Announcements

Councillor Andrew Husband was elected as Leader of the Council. He subsequently announced the appointment of Councillor Darren Rhymes as Deputy Leader, and named the cabinet members. Councillor Joe Quinn was appointed to the resources, investment and assets portfolio.

Appointments to Joint Bodies and Other Bodies

The council agreed to appointments to various joint bodies and other bodies. These included:

• The Combined Fire Authority for County Durham and Darlington, which comprises 21 members from Durham County Council and four from Darlington.
• The Business Durham Advisory Board, with membership including the Leader, Deputy Leader, and cabinet portfolio holders for economy and partnerships, housing and assets, and neighbourhoods and climate change.
• The Charter Trust for the City of Durham, with appointments made based on representation from electoral divisions within the original charter trust area. The council agreed to appoint three additional trustees: Councillor Rodiss as chair, Councillor Nicola Lyons as a member of the cabinet, and Councillor Mary-Lynn Franklin.
• The Durham Police and Crime Panel, a joint committee with Darlington Borough Council, comprising seven representatives from Durham, three from Darlington, and two independent co-opted members.
• The Joint Audit Committee for the Police and Crime Commissioner and Police, with a member appointed from Durham and Darlington councils.
• The North East Combined Authority (NECA), with the Leader of the Council appointed, and the Deputy Leader and portfolio holder for finance, plus the cabinet portfolio holder for economy and partnerships, appointed as substitutes.

Appointment of Council Bodies and Allocation of Seats

The council appointed members to various committees and the Corporate Parenting Panel, allocating seats to political groups and unaligned councillors. The allocation of seats was determined based on legislative requirements, ensuring that the political group with a majority of seats had a majority on each committee, and that seats were allocated proportionally to the membership of the full council. Councillor Amanda Hopgood congratulated Councillor Husband on becoming Leader of the Council and wished him and his cabinet well.

An amendment was proposed to change the chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Management Board to Councillor Mark Wilkes, and move the vice chair of the Environment and Sustainable Community Scrutiny Committee to Councillor John Cook. Councillor David Freeman seconded the amendment. The amendment was put to a vote, but it failed with 30 votes for, 63 against, and zero abstentions.

Annual Review of the Constitution

The council approved the scheme of delegation as set out in Part 3C of the Constitution. The Director of Legal and Democratic Services has delegated authority, in consultation with the Constitution Working Group, to make future changes to reflect decisions of the council, other council bodies, changes in legislation, and to correct inaccuracies. The Local Government Act 2000 requires the council to prepare and keep up to date a document that contains a copy of the authority’s standing orders, a copy of the authority’s code of conduct for its members and co-opted members, such information as the Secretary of State may direct, and such other information as the authority considers appropriate.

Other Business

The council confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2025¹ and agreed to the suggested dates for council meetings in 2025-26.