When the new Party Chair, John Reid, approached me before Christmas and asked if I'd be prepared to play a role in liasing with Labour Groups I had no hesitation in saying yes.

I believe in local government. Having been a councillor myself for 12 years I know from personal experience that when a local council works well it can deliver real benefits to the local community.

When central government talks about the importance of delivering high quality public services the practical reality is that local government has the potential to be a key player in ensuring that this actually happens.

In addition we must never lose sight of the crucial political role that should be played by Labour councillors. We have over 8,000 Labour councillors. This represents a valuable resource for the Party. In many parts of the country Labour councillors are our leading activists. We need to be clear about the role we expect them to carry out and trust their views and opinions.

It is clear to me that as a Party we could reap enormous benefits through a closer working political relationship between Labour in central government and Labour in local government.

As the government faces a testing period we must be ready for the attacks that will be made upon us. Not just from the Tories but we will need to develop a clear strategy to deal with the Liberal Democrats and be aware of the negative response that we will get from the media.

So Labour councillors have a crucial role – to deliver high quality public services and to be an activist base in the Party. I look forward to working with you on what will be an exciting and forward looking agenda.