New leader elected to Staffordshire County Council

The third man since December to lead the controlling Reform UK group on Staffordshire County Council has been formally elected as leader of the authority.

Martin Murray had been acting leader of the council, having recently been chosen to lead his party there.

He was appointed to the top position at a full council meeting on Thursday.

Hayley Coles, cabinet member for communities and culture, will additionally take on the responsibility of deputy leader.

"I am delighted that members have put their faith and trust in me today, and it is a huge honour to be chosen as leader of the council," Murray said.

"My aim now is to bring stability, strong leadership and focus on delivering what is important for this council and for the people we serve."

He previously told the BBC the county and its leadership needed stability after a tumultuous period which saw previous leader Ian Cooper stand down under a cloud of racism allegations linked to social media activity.

Cooper's successor Chris Large become the subject of an inquiry into racist posts which he denied writing.

Murray said he would take action to draw a line under the racism scandal.

"If anybody does anything untoward, in a racist way, in a detrimental way, I will come down on them hard, I will act swiftly, correctly and severely if anybody does," he said.

The turmoil at the authority was also briefly mentioned in Westminster on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemning the party over its running of Staffordshire County Council.

"Reform have nothing to offer but chaos, grievance and division," he said.

The Conservative opposition on the council called for Murray to remove the cabinet member for highways, Peter Mason, from his cabinet after he was asked to stay away from parish meetings over derogatory comments made on his social media before he was a councillor.

Mason has since apologised.

"The only reason Conservatives and Labour politicians are keeping this alive is because they have nothing else to say," Murray said.

"Peter Mason - let's move on and let him deliver for highways, which he is an expert at."

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