The new leader of the opposition at Warwickshire County Council has pledged not to soften her robust approach despite a year of heated meetings.
Councillor Sarah Boad (Lib Dem, Leamington North) has recently been promoted from deputy to outright group leader of the second-largest party at Shire Hall.
With over three decades of service behind her, Cllr Boad has frequently been at the forefront of Liberal Democrat challenges to decisions made by the Reform UK administration that has been in control since May 2025.
Reform is the largest party but lacks an overall majority, meaning significant decisions require an absence of opposition from political opponents.
Nevertheless, many routine decisions, including the council’s strategic direction and implementation of financial savings needed to balance the budget, are handled by the cabinet – the panel of Reform councillors responsible for key service areas.
It is at public cabinet meetings where other parties scrutinise these decisions, and the sessions have become increasingly lengthy and confrontational since Reform assumed power.
Yet Cllr Boad maintains this has been essential, claiming that inexperienced Reform councillors do not always provide clear reasoning for decisions, especially those that other groups oppose.
When asked if her promotion would lead to any shift in approach, Cllr Boad told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Cabinet is our main opportunity to challenge the administration.
“It is a minority administration, they don’t have an overall majority. We have just had the council plan and that is theirs but a lot of stuff that has come forward would have come through anyway.
“There has been very little that changes how the council works or what it does so far.
“We will continue to hold them to account and to try to expose where they don’t really know what they are talking about.
“Sometimes portfolio holders read out statements that have been prepared for them but when we ask a follow-up questions, we get a lot of ‘we’ll come back to you’, ‘I’m not sure’, ‘I need to find out the answer to that’, so I am not sure some of the cabinet members are on top of their briefs.
“We will be holding their feet to the fire and probing to make sure that they know what they are doing.”
When challenged over the perception that ongoing disputes in council meetings and councillors bickering serves nobody’s interests, Cllr Boad responded: “The main thing we are trying to achieve is getting answers to our questions.
“They don’t always come back with the answers when that is promised. Councillor (George) Finch (leader) gives as good as he gets and is quite good at deflecting. I have no problem in going back to him to get him to answer questions.
“You don’t want to be going backwards and forwards all the time but we also don’t want to give Councillor Finch an easy ride or let him think he can ride roughshod over the council.” On the question of whether she would like to become council leader, Cllr Boad confirmed she had been her party’s nominee when Cllr Finch faced a vote of no confidence.
“It is very hard, the resources make it tough, budgets have been cut by millions and millions over many years, but I think as Lib Dems that we would manage the resources we have in a better way,” she added.
“What is available would remain the same but we would manage them in a better and more sympathetic way, and with a better knowledge of services. We have more experience in the group to understand how we could do things better.
Cllr Boad fills the shoes of long-serving group leader Councillor Jerry Roodhouse (Eastlands) who will continue to play a big part.”
Cllr Boad steps into the role previously held by long-serving group leader Councillor Jerry Roodhouse (Eastlands), who is set to continue playing a significant part within the group.
“Jerry has now become chair of the group and his experience goes back even longer than mine,” she said.
“His knowledge of procedure, what we have done before, just the way the council works will continue to be invaluable. We will be tapping into that expertise as we go forward.”
Councillor George Cowcher (Lib Dem, Wellesbourne) has taken on the role of deputy group leader, and also serves as deputy leader of the Lib Dem-run Stratford-on-Avon District Council.
Cllr Finch has been approached for comment.
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