THE new Oldham Council leader has been confirmed and the cabinet selected at the first full council meeting since the explosive local elections.

At a meeting on Wednesday, May 25, Royton South councillor Amanda Chadderton was unanimously voted in as the new leader of Oldham Council after the shock ousting of Arooj Shah on May 5.

Cllr Chadderton called her appointment the 'absolute honour of her life' adding that contrary to the ‘rumour mill’ she has lived in the borough her whole life and was brought up in Oldham.

She added: "I'm also proud to stand here today as the first openly gay leader of Oldham council - whilst I can already see how some people are beginning to use this fact as a means to sow hatred, I won't be forced to hide who I am.

"Diversity matters and these are things to be celebrated and not to be used as some sort of weapon against people."

She went on to say that she was “under no illusion” that her role as council leader would be the “greatest professional challenge” she has ever faced.

As leader, Cllr Chadderton says her focus will be delivering priorities across three key areas - continuing Oldham's drive to be a resident-focused council; ensuring plans for regeneration and housing continue at pace; and working for children and young people by affording them the very best opportunities.

The new leader also said she wants Oldham to be the top council in Greater Manchester for enforcement over fly-tipping and waste dumping by this time next year.

Cllr Chadderton's new cabinet team was also announced at today’s full council meeting.

The new leader will also be the cabinet member for regeneration and housing, as well as deputy leader Cllr Abdul Jabbar was appointed cabinet member for finance and low carbon, Cllr Elaine Taylor was appointed cabinet member for culture and leisure, Cllr Mohon Ali as cabinet member for education and skills, Cllr Jean Stretton as cabinet member for neighbourhoods, Cllr Eddie Moores as cabinet member for children and young people, Cllr Barbara Brownridge as cabinet member for health and social care, Cllr Shaid Mushtaq as cabinet member for corporate services, and finally Cllr Shoab Akhtar was appointed cabinet member for employment and enterprise.

Ahead of her appointment, Cllr Chadderton paid tribute to former leader Arooj Shah who she had ‘never known to take a day off’ since becoming a cabinet member in 2019.

She added that Arooj Shah would be ‘sorely missed’ and expressed her admiration for the former leader who ‘continued on’ despite the ‘campaign of abuse’ against her including death threats and online attacks.

Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Howard Sykes echoed Cllr Chadderton’s comments, saying the ‘personal attacks’ towards Arooj Shah and her family ‘have no place in the politics of this town or elsewhere in this country’.

He added that he took ‘no pleasure’ in the fact that the ‘bully boys won’.

Referring to the leaflets allegedly posted during the election campaign, which Arooj Shah described as ‘defamatory and malicious’ towards her, Labour Cllr Graham Shuttleworth said some members of the Conservative group should ‘hang their heads in shame’, whether they are those who delivered ‘abusive material’ or those who denied any knowledge of involvement with such material.

He added: “The leaflet contained nothing but smears about Arooj”. 

Also commenting on the election campaign, Labour Cllr Steven Bashforth said: “I have never seen anything as disgusting as the stuff that went out” adding that the “evil lies” caused councillors to lose their seats.

He went on to say the material released during the campaign was ‘racist and misogynistic' and that there were attempts made to associate ‘good people’ with paedophiles and ‘evil goings on’ that are ‘yet to be proved’.

Conservative Cllr Pam Byrne commended Arooj Shah for her ‘resilience’ when it came to the ‘abuse’ she faced including in the chamber, adding: "That sort of bullying of any of us , any women or any men, should not happen”.