Newly elected councillor made deputy leader

Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera was voted as the new deputy leader at a full council meeting last Wednesday despite having been elected as a councillor less than a week before in the Victoria Ward by-election.
Mr Uduwerage Perera, a retired police officer and vice chairman of the West Berkshire Local Involvement Network (LiNKS), thanked his Liberal colleagues for the faith and confidence in him for the position.
“The reality is I come with bags of experience from my police career and I’m keen on looking at becoming fully engaged with the community in a far more effective manner than we do now,” he said.
However, the move was met with surprise from the Conservatives who objected to the nomination on Mr Uduwerage-Perera’s lack of experience, who either objected or abstained from the vote.
Speaking on the nomination Tony Stretton (Con, Clay Hill) said he was surprised that some one who was elected in a mid-term by-election with no experience of the town council was made deputy leader.
“He will have to speak on matters that he has no knowledge of, such as the confidential issue surrounding Victoria Park, and he will have to spend a lot of time making himself familiar with that situation and that’s just one example.
“I’m not saying that he won’t do a good job, I’m just surprised that he was elected.”
Mr Uduwerage-Perera was nominated for the position by the leader of the town council, Julian Swift-Hook (Lib Dem, Pyle Hill) who said that although Mr Uduwerage-Perera was newly elected to the town council, he was a very experienced public servant and had been involved in local politics and activities for some time.
“He will bring a breath of fresh air to how the council operated,” he said.
The meeting also saw the re-election of Mr Swift-Hook as the leader of the town council
Speaking on his re-election as leader of the Town Council, Mr Swift-Hook thanked his colleagues and the former deputy leader, David Allen (Lib Dem, Victoria) who was made West Berkshire Council’s shadow executive for education in a reshuffle two weeks ago, for all of his hard work over the last two years.
“I am grateful to my colleagues for entrusting me with the leadership for another year and that the town council would continue to deliver excellent service for excellent value,” Mr Swift-Hook said.