THE new leader of the Liberal Democrats on Bolton Council is Cllr Barbara Ronson.

Cllr Ronson, who was first elected to the council in 1986, takes over from Roger Hayes who did not seek re-election in last week's council elections.

Cllr Ronson said: "I"m very pleased to take over as leader at a time when we have the same number of councillors on the council as the Tory group.

"We have now got a lot of work to sort out who is the main opposition to Labour in Bolton." She added: "I am disappointed we did not gain any more seats but it goes without saying that I am eager for the challenges which face us in the future."

After last Thursday's elections, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives each have six seats on the council, with Labour holding a commanding 48.

The Labour group made only one change in the chairmanship of council committees at its annual meeting.

Cllr Noel Spencer is the new chairman of the housing committee. He was previously vice chairman and takes over from Cllr Brian Iddon. Cllr Iddon had been chairman for10 years but had previously announced his intention to return to the back benches to enable him to concentrate on Bolton South, where he is the party's candidate at the next general election.

The new vice chairman is Cllr Linda Thomas.

The council's Conservative group meet on Wednesday night.

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