Cllr Ricky Rogers, who represents Fisherton & Bemerton Village near Salisbury as the authority’s only Labour councillor, was elected interim chairman of Wiltshire Council at its annual meeting on Tuesday (May 19).
With both the previous chairman and vice chairman having stepped down, council chief executive Lucy Townsend said an interim chair needed to be elected to oversee the election of a permanent chair and vice chair for the year.
Following a secret ballot demanded by the Conservative group, Cllr Rogers won the position against his rival Cllr Howard Greenman (Kington, Conservative) by 51 votes to 45, with one councillor voting for someone who did not appear on the ballot paper.
Taking his position at the head of the cabinet bench in front of 96 colleagues, he said: “Thirty-seven years I’ve been coming into this chamber, and it’s the first time I’ve sat in this chair.”
His one and only job was to oversee the election of a chairman and vice chairman of the council for the year 2026-7, with the previous chairman, Cllr Laura Mayes (Bromham, Rowde & Roundway, Conservative) standing against the previous vice chair, Ruth Hopkinson (Corsham Ladbrook, Liberal Democrats).
Following another secret ballot, again at the insistence of the Conservatives, the Tory won by 49 votes to 47, with one abstention.
Relinquishing the position after just 21 minutes, Cllr Rogers told members: “It’s been an honour to serve as your chair… and I am available next year.”
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Cllr Mayes said: “I had actually prepared a goodbye speech. I hadn’t prepared a welcome speech.
“I very much enjoyed last year and I very much forward to this year.
“It is a challenge to chair these meetings, particularly when things are so tight, but I want to thank everybody for how kind and supportive they’ve been during what’s been a very tricky year.”
Since May 2025, the council has been in ‘no overall control’ with the 43 Liberal Democrats running the administration in partnership with seven independents.
With Cllr Mayes overseeing the election of a vice chair, a quick show of hands saw Cllr Hopkins return to the role, beating Conservative rival and Pewsey ward councillor Jerry Kunkler by a single vote.
