STEVE HARKER was last night selected as the new leader of Darlington Labour group.

His name will now go before tomorrow night’s full meeting of Darlington council where it is expected that he will be rubberstamped as the new council leader, taking over from Cllr Bill Dixon, who is retiring after seven years as the council head.

The group of 29 Labour councillors also decided that Cllr Chris McEwan, who was the other contender for the leadership, will be the new deputy leader.

Cllr Harker, 55, was born in Middlesbrough, grew up in Stokesley and came to Darlington in 1990 to work for British Rail. Now a software designer for the railways, he said: “I have always enjoyed living here, and it is a privilege to represent where you live and now to become its leader.

“There are obvious short term issues that we face regarding the town centre, and there’s a big piece of work to be done there, although it is not something a local authority can fix on its own.

“There are other issues around the growth of the town and its economy – we have to build a large number of houses over the next 20 years, and the council needs to be on top of that so that Darlington as a place is happy with that.”

Concerning the proposed relocation of the library from the Crown Street building to the Dolphin Centre, he said: “We need to have a pause for thought about what this week’s court judgement means, and in terms of what is happening in the high street. We need to think about where we go from here.”

He said he was particularly concerned about the differences in life expectancy across the borough, with people living up to 12 years longer in the better off wards.

Cllr Harker, who has been deputy leader since 2011, will now lead Labour into May’s council elections. He will also become deputy mayor of the Tees Valley Combined Authority.

Cllr Dixon said: “We have got a very strong team to take us into 2019 and I wish them every success.”

Cllr McEwan, who is currently the councillor in charge of economic development, said: “I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity by the group to be deputy leader.

“We face considerable challenges that are not of our own making, and also significant opportunities that we as a town can capitalise on.

“I also think that given the changing world in terms of the way people nowadays communicate with each other, we as a group and a council need to reflect on how we communicate and engage.”