A Norfolk council has named the new leader of its biggest political group.
Daniel Elmer, a policy adviser at the Cabinet Office, has taken over from Lord Fuller as leader of the controlling Conservative group at South Norfolk Council and will hope to be voted in as council leader at its annual meeting in May.
Lord Fuller, who is standing down after receiving a life peerage from the Prime Minister, is Norfolk’s longest-serving council leader, having led the authority since 2007.
He will remain in his position as council leader until next month’s vote, but is no longer leader of the Conservative group.
Mr Elmer has been deputy leader since May last year and represents the Cringleford ward. He is also a county councillor.
Although there are restrictions on the political roles Cabinet Office staff can take, Mr Elmer says he has been granted the necessary consent.
He said: “I commend Lord Fuller for his amazing record of service and I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues, both those in the Conservative group and the opposition.
“I hope to be council leader but the outcome of the election still hangs in the balance.”
The 29-year-old is originally from Basildon and moved to Norfolk to study economics at the University of East Anglia. He lives with his girlfriend, Chloe, and three-month-old sprocker spaniel, Wynter.
He came under the spotlight in 2018 after being arrested on suspicion of electoral fraud in the Norwich City Council elections. He was later released with no further action taken.
“I have no desire to revisit that day in my life,” he said. “I felt it was quite outrageous at the time.”
Lord Fuller was announced as one of 13 new peers in February.
The father-of-two will now sit in the House of Lords, where government bills are scrutinised through reviews and amendments before they become law.
He will remain a councillor for Brooke, the division he has represented on South Norfolk Council since 2003.
