County council leader confirmed for second term

Liberal Democrat councillor Lucy Nethsingha has been confirmed as the leader of Cambridgeshire County Council.

It will be Nethsingha's second term after the Lib Dems won a narrow majority in the local elections on 1 May.

Her deputy will be Lorna Dupre, who takes over from the Labour Party's Elisa Meschini.

Nethsingha, who represents Cambourne, said after the county council's annual general meeting on Tuesday: "I am aware this is a huge responsibility."

She said: "Over the past four years we worked with councillors from other parties in running the council.

"We will continue to work with anyone we can and value good ideas from staff, from communities across Cambridgeshire and from successful councils across the country."

The Lib Dems have 31 seats out of 61 seats in Cambridgeshire.

Prior to the 2025 elections, no party had overall control of the council, and the Lib Dems were in a coalition with Labour and independent councillors.

The Liberal Democrats gained 11 seats since the last election in 2021, while the Green Party gained three and Reform UK 10 seats.

Dupre lost her bid to be the next Cambridgeshire and Peterborough combined authority mayor but was re-elected to her county council seat in Sutton.

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