CABINET members have paid tribute to ‘outstanding’ Newport council leader, Debbie Wilcox, who will step down at the end of next month.

Councillor Wilcox was created a life peer in former prime minister Theresa May’s resignation honours list and is due to take up her seat in the House of Lords in the near future.

While she will remain a ward councillor, Cllr Wilcox has said she is stepping down as leader at the end of next month.

MORE NEWS:

Her successor has yet to be announced.

At her penultimate cabinet meeting as leader on Wednesday, colleagues paid tribute to her leadership over the past three years.

Leading the tributes, Cllr Gail Giles said the peerage was well-deserved recognition of a “lifetime of commitment to public service” as a teacher and councillor.

“I have had the pleasure and honour to have worked alongside you for the past 15 years,” Cllr Giles said.

“You have been an outstanding leader of this council and we wish you every success in your new distinguished role.”

Cllr Jane Mudd also offered her congratulations on the “richly deserved” appointment.

“You have been open, transparent and most importantly you are true to your word and those are fine attributes,” Cllr Mudd said.

Cllr Paul Cockeram paid tribute to the contribution Cllr Wilcox has made to the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), where she is also leader.

“What you have achieved in those three years is exceptional and you have left the WLGA in a much stronger position,” Cllr Cockeram said.

Cllr Wilcox said she was “proud” of the council’s achievements since being leader and hoped she had helped the authority become more “open, transparent and modernised.”

She said that when she takes up her seat – where she will be known by the title Baroness Wilcox of Newport – she will push for greater monitoring of social media in local government, as is currently offered in the House of Lords.

“All I can say is thank you,” she told cabinet members.

“I have got one cabinet meeting to go and I hope that’s the one where I get the present.”