Who is my local councillor?
Click here to find out about the team working in your area.
Shadow Cabinet
The Lib Dems are the largest opposition party on Sheffield City Council. As such, it is important for Lib Dem councillors to hold the Labour administration to account for their policies. The Lib Dem councillors have elected a Shadow Cabinet, to lead on each area of council policy. Their job is to scrutinise the Labour Cabinet Member to ensure Sheffield taxpayers are getting a fair deal with their money.
You can learn more about them below:
Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed – Leader
Shaffaq was born in Pakistan and moved to Sheffield aged four. The son of a steel-worker, he was raised in Tinsley. After being one of the Co-op’s youngest managers, he studied at Sheffield College and then at Sheffield University. Shaffaq has over 15 years experience of community work. He is a qualified youth worker with responsibilities for both the supervision and delivery of youth work within the Arbourthorne area of the city. He is also a magistrate and an active member of the local community, involved with charity work within the city as well as abroad. Most notably he spent three weeks providing relief and assistance within Kashmir and Pakistan following the October 2005 earthquake.
Shaffaq was first elected as a Lib Dem councillor in 2004. Upon the Lib Dems taking control of Sheffield City Council in 2008, Shaffaq became Cabinet Member for Environment & Climate Change. In this position he was responsible for increasing kerbside recycling. In 2010, he moved to become Cabinet Member for Communities (including libraries, parks, and community safety), doubling the number of ‘green flag’ awards for parks inSheffield.
In May 2011, he was elected Leader of the Lib Dem Group.
Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed is also a ward councillor for Broomhill.
Cllr Colin Ross – Deputy Leader (Children, Young People & Families)
Colin first came to Sheffield in 1971 to read Geology at the University of Sheffield. Now retired, he was a teacher of Geology and also wrote A-level textbooks on the subject. Colin initially taught at Firth Park School in Sheffield and for the last 20 years at Thomas Rotherham College, where he was a senior manager.
Colin has 13 years experience as a Lib Dem councillor. He was made Cabinet Member for Employment, Enterprise & Planning in 2009, where he responsible for the Lib Dem administration’s drive to make the Council more supportive of local businesses. In 2010, he became Cabinet Member for Children’s & Young People and oversaw the creation of the City-Wide Learning Board, a nationally-recognised example of best practice, bringing schools of all kinds, throughout the city, together.
In May 2011, Colin was elected Deputy Leader of the Lib Dem Group. He remains the Group’s spokesperson on Children’s and Young People’s issues.
Cllr Colin Ross is also a ward councillor for Dore & Totley.
Cllr Ian Auckland – Environment & Transport
Ian Auckland was first elected as a councillor in 1999 and has 26 years experience as local branch manager for NatWest Bank.
Ian has shown a consistent interest in transport, having been the Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport from 1999-2002 and again from 2008-2011. He also sits on the South Yorkshire Transport Authority. As a Cabinet Member he has also held responsibility for business, planning.
Ian is now the Group’s spokesperson on Environment and Transport issues.
Cllr Ian Auckland is also a ward councillor for Graves Park.
Cllr David Baker – Communities
David has lived in Sheffield for thirty years and has worked in hotels and catering as well as in management in business and industry. Having been first elected in 1983, he is one of the Liberal Democrats’ longest serving councillors.
From 2008 to 2011 David served as Deputy Leader of the Council. In this role he was responsible for creating new groundbreaking ‘Community Assemblies’, which took power away from Town Hall and handed it back to local people. He has also served as the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, only the second Liberal Democrat to do so.
In 2011, David became the Lib Dem Group’s spokesperson on Communities, encompassing community assemblies, community safety and the third sector.
Cllr David Baker is also a ward councillor for Stannington.
Cllr Alison Brelsford – Homes & Regeneration
Alison lives in Stocksbridge with her husband and young family, and has worked as an administrator, bookkeeper and financial analyst since graduating in 1994.
She has 14 years experience as a city councillor, as well as 8 years as Stocksbridge Town Councillor. Previously, as member of the Council’s Cabinet she helped to build relationships between the Council and the independent childcare sector.
Alison is now the Group’s spokesperson on Housing and Regeneration issues.
Cllr Alison Brelsford is also a ward councillor for Stocksbridge & Upper Don.
Cllr Simon Clement-Jones – Finance
Simon moved to Sheffield in 1989 to study mechanical engineering at Sheffield Hallam University. He has worked in the steelworks in Sheffield, Barnsley and Rotherham before starting a computer consultancy business in 1999.
Simon has been a Lib Dem councillor for Beauchief and Greenhill since 2004. From 2008 to 2011, he was the Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance. In this position, he delivered the lowest ever council tax increase three years in the row, including a historic council tax freeze last year.
Simon remains the Lib Dem spokesman for finance.
Cllr Simon Clement-Jones is also a ward councillor for Beauchief & Greenhill.
Cllr Roger Davison – Business, Jobs & Growth
Roger is a born-and-bred Sheffielder, life-long Wednesday fan, former economic teacher and a councillor of 17 years experience.
In 2010, Roger became Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Tourism. As Cabinet Member, he delivered a better-than-ever Christmas market with a new ice-rink, brought forward plans for a Sheffield coach park, and secured Olympic Teams to Sheffield for training for the 2012 Olympics. Roger was also Lord Mayor of Sheffield from 2005-06.
In 2011, Roger became the Lib Dem spokesman for Business, Jobs & Growth, which includes the area of Culture, Sport and Tourism.
Cllr Roger Davison is also a ward councillor for Ecclesall.
Cllr Gail Smith – Health, Care & Independent Living
Gail has over thirty years experience as a nurse and has worked within her local community as a health worker.
Gail has been a Lib Dem councillor for seven years. In 2009, she was made Cabinet Member for Independent and Healthy Living, a post in which she served for a year.
In 2011, she became Lib Dem spokesperson for Independent and Healthy Living.
Cllr Gail Smith is also a ward councillor for Mosborough.
Community Assembly Chairs
Community Assemblies are local decision making bodies, which help to connect local people and their councillors with the money that is spent in their area. Community Assemblies were created by the Lib Dems in 2008 as a way to hand down power to local people. Lib Dems believe that local people know best what their area needs and have given each Community Assembly a portion of the budget, to tackle their priorities for their neighbourhoods.
The Lib Dems have a majority on three of the city’s seven Community Assemblies. You can learn more about our three chairs below:
Cllr Trevor Bagshaw – Nothern
The Northern Community Assembly deals with the four wards of East Ecclesfield, Stannington, Stocksbridge & Upper Don, and West Ecclesfield. You can read agendas and minutes of their meetings here.
The Chair of Northern Community Assembly is Trevor Bagshaw. Trevor has spent his working life in the steel industry, attaining a Masters Degree and later of PhD from the University of Sheffield. He has been a councillor since 1991 and is a former Lord Mayor of Sheffield.
Cllr Trevor Bagshaw is also a ward councillor for West Ecclesfield.
Cllr Bob McCann – South
The South Community Assembly deals with the four wards of Beauchief & Greenhill, Gleadless Valley, Graves Park, and Nether Edge. You can read agendas and minutes of their meetings here.
The Chair of South Community Assembly is Bob McCann. Bob has been a councillor for Graves Park for nine years. Prior to becoming a councillor he worked as a motor mechanic, transport manager, garage owner and pub manager. From 2008-2010, he was the Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities.
Cllr Bob McCann is also a ward councillor for Graves Park.
Cllr Andrew Sangar – South West
The South West Community Assembly deals with the four wards of Crookes, Dore & Totley, Ecclesall, and Fulwood. You can read agendas and minutes of their meetings here.
The Chair of South West Community Assembly is Andrew Sangar. Andrew has over twenty years experience as a local councillor in Sheffield. He was the Council’s Cbainet Member for Performance from 1999-2002, for children’s services from 2008-10 and for Environment and Climate Change from 2010-11.
Cllr Andrew Sangar is also a ward councillor for Fulwood.