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LEADER-ELECT: Simon Henig

THE leader-elect of a council whose leadership has been wracked by wrangles and infighting says he is looking forwards, not backwards.

Sunderland University senior politics lecturer Simon Henig, 38, is the new leader of the Labour group on Durham County Council and is almost guaranteed to be formally confirmed as the authority's leader at its annual meeting later this month.

The Oxford-educated academic, who is the deputy leader of Chester-le-Street District Council and is a former agent of North Durham MP Kevan Jones, will lead the authority into the switch to unitary local government.

This will see the creation of a new, all-purpose authority that will do the work currently done by the county council and the seven district authorities.

The married father-of-two, who has written several books on politics, was elected at the first group meeting following the May 1 elections, which saw Labour emerge with an eight-seat majority.

He had been expected to face challenges from three councillors for the £25,700- plus post.

But county council leader Albert Nugent, a former miner, and Alan Napier, leader of Easington District Council, were ruled out because they were suspended by party chiefs in a dispute over the number of women candidates fielded in the council elections in Easington.

Newly-elected Peter Brookes, a former county council official, who was part of the Famous Five that backed former prime Minister Tony Blair in his bid to be Sedgefield MP, had also been a contender.

But in the event he stood for the deputy leadership instead and was beaten by the incumbent Clive Robson, councillor for Consett North.

On the day, Coun Henig faced a challenge from Jean Chaplow, councillor for Deerness Valley, but won by a substantial margin.

Coun Henig, whose wife Katherine is a university administrator, and whose children are Samuel, five, and Lucy, two-and-a-half, is probably the youngest leader of the county council in living memory.

He said he wanted to lead the council into the new "challenging'' era of unitary government and give a strong voice for County Durham.

Coun Henig said he did not want to comment about the Easington suspensions - neither Councillors Napier nor Nugent attended the vote - and said he did not want to "rake over'' past disputes in the county council Labour group.

"I'm not looking at what's happened, or not happened, in the past, I am talking about the future,'' he said. "I am going forward in the best interests of County Durham.

"We are moving forward.

We have a fresh start. We have a huge challenge pulling together what will be the fourth largest unitary council in the country.'' He added that he would wait before deciding whether to commit himself full-time to the post - there is also a £10,500 standard allowance given to all councillors - and leave his university job.

Liberal Democrat leader Nigel Martin congratulated Coun Henig but said Labour had to "get its act together'' as the move to a unitary council drew nearer, for the sake of the county and its people.

"The in-fighting and bickering that has blighted the Labour group at County Hall for the past two years must not be allowed to continue on the new council,'' he said.

1:27pm Friday 16th May 2008

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