RETURNING East Lothian Council leader Councillor Norman Hampshire vowed to "remain friends" with opposition councillors as they face tough decisions moving forward.

After weeks of meetings between the parties represented following the council elections earlier this month, it was clear that agreement had been reached to allow the Labour Group – which won the most seats in the May 5 vote – to continue in its leadership roles.

READ MORE: East Lothian Council election 2022: Labour finish as largest party as Greens win first ever seat

The first meeting of the local authority’s newly elected councillors saw Mr Hampshire appointed council leader for a second term without a challenge.

It also saw the return of Councillor John McMillan as provost and Councillor Andrew Forrest as depute provost without an opposition challenge.

And Councillor Shamin Akhtar, fellow member of the minority Labour administration, was appointed deputy leader of the council, again unchallenged.

However, concessions had been made, with a challenge to the administration's ability to take decisions without opposition backing getting unanimous approval.

SNP Group leader Councillor Lyn Jardine, newly appointed opposition leader, brought forward a motion opposing a proposal to reduce the number of members on the council’s education and planning committees, saying it would mean a disproportionate number of administration members.

She was backed by Councillor Shona McIntosh, East Lothian’s first Scottish Greens councillor.

And there was a call for an overhaul of standing orders to ensure that they represented the wider electorate.

'Call in'

The council had already agreed to investigate introducing changes to allow opposition councillors to ‘call in’ any paper due to be decided by the administration’s cabinet for full council decisions.

The standing orders review was proposed by Ms Jardine with the support of Conservative Group leader Councillor Lachlan Bruce.

The Labour administration supported the opposition amendments.

Mr Hampshire said that he was privileged to be returned as council leader – a role he took on last year following the death of his predecessor, Councillor Willie Innes.

He said: “Councillor Innes' role was always to be the leader of the council and work with all councillors to do the best for the people of East Lothian, and that is what I will try and do.

“There will be times when we disagree but we should always remain friends.

"We have some big challenges in front of us and opportunities as well.”

'Getting stuck in'

New opposition leader Ms Jardine also welcomed cross-party working, saying that all councillors had a responsibility to represent the people who elected them.

She added: “I am looking forward to getting stuck in.”

Following the recent elections, the council is made up of 10 Labour councillors, seven SNP councillors, four Conservative councillors and one Green councillor.

Councillors also approved salaries for the coming year for the council leader of £32,622, a salary of £24,467 for the provost and five senior councillors (depute leader, deputy provost, cabinet spokespersons and leader of the opposition), and a salary of £19,571 for the remaining 15 councillors.

At the meeting on Tuesday morning, the following roles were confirmed:

Leader of the council: Norman Hampshire; Depute leader: Shamin Akhtar; Provost: John McMillan; Depute Provost: Andy Forrest.

Cabinet spokespersons: Cabinet Spokesperson for planning: Norman Hampshire; Cabinet spokesperson for health and social care: Shamin Akhtar; Cabinet spokesperson for education and children’s and family services: Fiona Dugdale; Cabinet spokesperson for housing and property maintenance: Andy Forrest; Cabinet spokesperson for community wellbeing and sport, countryside and leisure: Colin McGinn; Cabinet spokesperson for environment, economic development and tourism: John McMillan. 

Councillor Lyn Jardine is leader of the opposition.