New Independent leadership voted in on Boston Borough Council

Councillor Anne Dorrian, of the Boston Independent Group, was formally voted in as leader at the authority’s annual general meeting after the group shot to power in the local elections on May 6, taking 19 seats, leaving the Conservatives with just five positions, down from their original 14.

Other Independents took five seats, the Blue Revolution Party took one, and the Liberal Democrats have one.

Coun Dale Broughton, who nominated Coun Dorrian on Monday night, said the district had voted “overwhelmingly in favour of change.”

“Coun Dorrian epitomises what a councillor should be, with a work ethic and dedication to help others, alongside her ability to scrutinise and question the decisions professionally,” he said.

Following the meeting, Coun Dorrian said: “I’m highly delighted, obviously because we’ve worked extremely hard during the campaign and our aim overall was to take control of the council.

“We weren’t shy about it, we didn’t hide away from the fact that that’s what we were aiming for, because that’s what we thought we needed in order to make real improvements to the town of Boston.”

She said: “We’re hopeful that by this summer, the residents will start to see real changes; they will start to feel that their town is being cared for in a way that it hasn’t been for a very long time.

“We are going to keep this open dialogue that we’ve established with residents and that’s really important and I hope that this general buoyancy and good mood continues for a long time to come.”

Coun David Brown said he was “very happy” to receive the mayoralty of Boston and looked forward to the events of the year.