Val Bryant elected as new leader for North Herts Council
It's after her predecessor was removed by a vote of no confidence
Last updated 14th Jan 2026
Val Bryant has been elected as the new leader of North Herts Council after her predecessor was removed by a vote of no confidence.
Cllr Bryant, formerly deputy leader of the authority, automatically became acting leader after Cllr Daniel Allen’s removal last month and was confirmed as permanent leader at a meeting yesterday (Tuesday, 13 January). She will oversee Labour’s minority administration in North Herts.
Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors voted in December to remove Cllr Allen after his cabinet chose to back the four-unitary model for the reorganisation of local government in Hertfordshire rather than the two-unitary option that was preferred by the full council.
Cllr Bryant received 23 votes in favour of her nomination as leader from fellow councillors, with 20 abstentions and zero against.
Speaking after her election, she said: “I’d like to thank Cllr Daniel Allen for leading us so well in the last 18 months, and the staff who have navigated us through tumultuous weeks since the vote of no confidence.
“I’m very much the candidate of continuing with the work of Cllr Allen. We have a council plan, we have a delivery plan, and I think it’s due to the officers that we haven’t lost a step since the beginning of December and that we’re still en route to reach our goals.”
The new deputy leader of the council will be Sean Nolan, currently chair of the finance, audit and risk committee.
After last month’s meeting, Cllr Bryant said her group wanted Cllr Allen “to be back in the position of being leader”. But he chose to stand down as leader of the Labour group earlier this month, with Cllr Bryant elected in his place.
Cllr Allen said: “I felt that rather than restand and hold up council business it would be better to stand down.
“With local government reorganisation, we need to focus on running the council for residents and getting projects secured, not playing political games.
“Cllr Bryant will offer clear, dependable leadership to keep the council moving forward. I look forward to supporting her in the cabinet.”
The leader of the Conservative group, Cllr Ralph Muncer, said: “The role of the opposition is to hold those in power to account, and that’s exactly what the Conservative party did in December when we voted to remove the former leader of the council from office.
“We voted to support and defend those core democratic principles which we stand up for and will always defend.
“The Conservative party tonight, whilst we will not seek to oppose the nomination of Cllr Val Bryant for leader of the council, we will not seek to support it either.
“We will continue to hold the administration to account and … let it be a lesson to this minority administration that should they seek to ignore the will and the views of council again, then we may find ourselves in a very similar position before too long.”
One of Cllr Muncer’s Conservative colleagues, Cllr Claire Strong, congratulated Cllr Bryant on becoming leader and added: “Very happy to have supported that she becomes leader today. As the deputy leader, perhaps it is only fitting that she does take over the role, and she is obviously the decision of the Labour group.”
North Herts Council is currently made up of 23 Labour councillors, 20 Liberal Democrats, seven Conservatives and one independent.