Bury Conservative group has confirmed its shadow cabinet for the upcoming 2025/26 council year, with Cllr Jack Rydeheard the only member not to keep his position.
The group want to focus Cllr Rydeheard's time on retaining his Elton ward seat at next year's local elections
Cllr Russell Bernstein will remain as leader of the group, and is going into his fourth year in the role.
Cllr Jo Lancaster continues as Cllr Bernstein's deputy and will take up the new brief of Shadow Cabinet member for Children’s Services and Skills, previously held by Cllr Luis McBriar, who will move to Cllr Lancaster's brief of Health and Adult Social Care.
Two councillors will join the shadow cabinet, Cllr Iain Gartside will become Shadow Cabinet member for Housing and Culture in a newly combined role. Housing was a part of Cllr Rydeheard's position, whilst Culture was a part of Cllr Bernstein's brief.
The other half of Cllr Rydeheard's previous position will be taken up by Cllr Shahbaz Arif, who will be shadow cabinet member for Environment and Communities, the second half of this role was previously held by Cllr Dene Vernon who will remain as Whip & Operations, as well as taking on the finance brief, which no Conservative group member held last year.
Speaking on his re-election and cabinet appointments, Cllr Russell Bernstein said:
"I am delighted to confirm that I have been re-elected as Conservative Group Leader. I want to thank my councillor colleagues for their continued support and I look forward to spearheading the Conservative fight back in regaining the trust and confidence of the people of Bury.
"I have taken this opportunity as we move towards the 2026 Local Elections to undertake an extensive reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet.
"Myself and Councillor Rydeheard have agreed that as we want to maximise his available time to concentrate on retaining his Elton seat next year that he won’t be in the Shadow Cabinet. I want to thank Jack for all his work as Housing and Environment spokesperson during the last municipal year."
Cllr's Roger Brown, Jackie Harris & Khalid Hussain will be on the back benches for the party.
Bury Council will hold its annual council meeting and Mayor making ceremony on May 18th.
Man charged in relation to Heywood incident
Town centre crackdown uncovers illegal trading and unsafe properties in Rochdale
Oldham man says cancer charity support helped rebuild his life alongside NHS care
Local election candidate fuming over his name being spelt wrong
The town with a solution to their traffic problem
Local Elections 2026: What every party in Rochdale has to offer ahead of local elections
Family secures £16200 key worker support to move into new home in Bury
Four men charged after incident at Rochdale AFC match against York City
KYP Easter programme brings creative activities and healthy meals to Rochdale children
Middleton widow appeals for answers after husband dies from asbestos related cancer
Man in his 20s fighting for life after Royton crash as police urge witnesses to come forward
Fun five-days in Spain boosted the confidence of high school students ahead of their Spanish exams
