Andrew Judge to step down as Merton Labour group leader

Although I've known for a while, it was announced officially at the Merton council meeting tonight that Andrew Judge will be stepping down as leader of the the Labour group in May. On Monday, we elected Stephen Alambritis, the current deputy leader as his replacement.

Andrew has done a fantastic job as leader of the Labour group over the last seven years. He took over during very challenging times for Merton Council in 2001 and went on to win a fourth term for Labour in 2002. During his leadership, the performance of the council improved significantly and a number of significant projects were successfully undertaken; school re-organisation, the extra resources on the street scene and the introduction of Merton Link which significantly improved customer services within the council. The significant improvement that has taken place in Merton over the past few years is in no small part due to his work. He also came very close to bucking the trend at the 2006 local election when we lost the council by a whisker but were successful in holding all our council seats in Mitcham and Morden.

In Stephen, we've got a fantastic replacement who I'm sure will be an excellent replacement as Labour group leader. I have known Stephen for a number of years, and I know what a great ambassador he'll be for the Labour party and on Merton Council.