Peterborough City Council's new Labour leader says he's reinvented himself 'more times than Madonna'

Dennis Jones has been announced as Peterborough City Council’s (PCC) new Labour group leader.

The councillor, elected in 2018, replaces Shaz Nawaz who announced his decision to step down last week.

Cllr Jones faces an immediate challenge: there are Council elections in May and Labour numbers have only dwindled since the last round.

“This is a strange time to take over as leader,” he said. “My priority is a very pragmatic one, which is to steer the ship through the local elections and come out with the best possible outcome for the Labour group and by turn the people of Peterborough.”

His “vision”, he continued, is a Labour-led coalition on the Council if Labour control isn’t possible (they last had it in 1997) and a local Labour MP.

As for those who have left Labour – such as Cllr Ansar Ali and Cllr Imtiaz Ali – he “respects” their decision, while disagreeing with it.

“For reasons better known to themselves, they decided not to appeal against decisions that were made externally,” he said.

“I wasn’t part of that process. I asked them to appeal and both of them chose to exercise their right to move.”

Cllr Ansar Ali now sits as an Independent while Cllr Imtiaz Ali joined the Greens after the pair claimed they were told they were not fit to stand again as Labour councillors.

Cllr Heather Skibsted has also recently left the Labour Party, as well as Ed Murphy who no longer sits on the Council.

The handover from Cllr Nawaz should be smooth, Cllr Jones believes, because he was already a key player within the Labour group with whom the former leader frequently consulted.

He has previously held the titles of group secretary and chief whip, he said, and now it’s just “my name over the door” rather than Cllr Nawaz’s.

Cllr Jones says his leadership style is “servant leadership”, which means focussing on the needs of others, and that he has “served the group, supported the group and tried to be fair to everyone”.

It’s a style he says he developed working in business, having variously taken on sales, marketing and training, as well as working at a university and as a driving instructor.

But it probably won’t surprise anyone who has heard his speeches in the Council chamber that he trained in theatre, treading the boards with Amanda Burton and David Threlfall in Manchester.

His "extensive commerical experience" means he's a "safe pair of hands" when it comes to Council finances, Cllr Jones says, and he's adaptable too.

“I’ve reinvented myself more times than Madonna," he said.