No regrets for ousted council leader

The outgoing leader of a council in the Black Country today revealed that he had no regrets about his six years in power.

Councillor Roger Lawrence, who will be ousted as Wolverhampton City Council leader at the authority’s annual general meeting on Wednesday after a disastrous set of local election results, said that he had done all he could to put Wolverhampton on the map.

Councillor Lawrence, who will still lead the Labour group in opposition to a newly formed Tory-Lib Dem alliance, said the city in was a better place than when he took over in 2002.

He said: “There are a lot of things we can be proud of, from the improvements to the Low Level station to what we are expecting at Summer Row, to housing improvements and our close relationships with other councils in our region, many of which are controlled by Tories, in improving this region and making it a better place.”

Councillor Lawrence, who used to work as a community development officer at Sandwell Council, says that he had no immediate plans to return to work.

The leader, who holds a Wolves season ticket and is studying part-time for a doctorate in political studies at Bristol University, lives with his wife Ruth, who works as a teacher in Wednesfield.

“I’ll probably be out selling the Big Issue,” joked the councillor.

“No seriously, after working at Sandwell Council four years ago I stopped to concentrate on being leader and fortunately I am doing OK and don’t have to rush back into work.

“I am discussing the possibility of doing something part-time but my main focus will be to provide some opposition to the Conservatives and Liberals at the council and trying to get control back,” he continued.

“I got an MSc in policy studies in the 1990s and am doing a doctorate in political studies, so I’m enjoying doing that. It’s focusing on international collaboration in central and Eastern Europe,” he added.