Essex MP to resign as deputy council leader after election result

The newly-elected MP for Chelmsford has said she will resign as Deputy Leader for Chelmsford City Council. Marie Goldman was elected to be the MP for Chelmsford in the General Election last week.

Ms Goldman is the city's first Liberal Democrat MP after beating former MP Vicky Ford. Her party overturned a majority of more than 17,000 to be the area's new representative in the House of Commons.

The locally-based Lib Dem said it was "amazing and incredibly humbling" to be the MP for Chelmsford. Having been sworn in as the MP in the House of Commons on Wednesday (July 10), she has now confirmed that she will be standing down from her role as Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member at Chelmsford City Council.

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Ms Goldman, the councillor for Moulsham and Central, had been a Cabinet Member with a portfolio that included procurement, museums, theatre and culture, digital services and more. She has also been a councillor representing Central Chelmsford at Essex County Council since May 2021.

In a statement to EssexLive, Ms Goldman said: "I'm stepping down from my role as Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member at Chelmsford Council, but giving my group a little bit of time to choose a replacement first. As I hope my constituents will understand, it's been a bit of a whirlwind so I'm giving myself some time to consider what's best to do apart from that.

"For the moment, I'm focused on getting my office set up and responding to casework from constituents."

There is currently no requirement for MPs to resign as councillors and force a by-election when elected to the House of Commons. In Nottinghamshire, former Conservative MP Ben Bradley represented Mansfield as the area's MP whilst also being Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council.

Ahead of a meeting of Chelmsford City Council's Cabinet on Tuesday (July 9), Cllr Stephen Robinson (Lib Dem.) confirmed plans to elect a new Deputy Leader. The City Council leader said: "The Lib Dem group will be electing a new deputy leader and cabinet member of the next couple of weeks and I will make an announcement when that process has concluded."

He added: "It's really great that there are so many councillors that have been elected to Parliament and I hope they will take their experience to Westminster and be able to make the case, from all parties, because collectively we all agree that local government voice needs to be heard more strongly in Westminster and Whitehall."