by Rachel Smyth | Aug 11, 2025 | Blogs
We recently brought together a Community of Practice on Place – a collective of leaders working in local systems, exploring what it means to lead for place when place itself is changing shape. Not simply a geographic label, place was understood as emotional,...
by Rachel Smyth | Jun 23, 2025 | News
As the conversation around devolution and local government reform sharpens, the tension between centralisation and meaningful local autonomy is more palpable than ever. Councils across the country are navigating expansion, mergers, and restructuring – all while...
by Rachel Smyth | Jun 4, 2025 | Blogs
Writing for the Leadership Centre are devolution experts (pictured left to right) Cllr Ruth Dombey OBE, Toby Savage and Elise Wilson. Ruth is the former Liberal Democrat Leader of Sutton Borough Council and a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. Toby...
by Rachel Smyth | May 13, 2025 | News
The recent local elections have brought about a notable shift in the political composition and, in a good number of cases, leadership of councils across the UK. Reform UK has moved from holding no councils to gaining control of ten and becoming the largest party in...
by Rachel Smyth | Feb 10, 2025 | Blogs
Achieving the right balance right between optimism, realism and pessimism can seem like one of the key responsibilities of leaders in challenging times. However, for me, it is the philosophy of agathism (ἀγαθός) – the doctrine that we can tend all things to the...
Recent Comments