Our People

Cllr Eamonn O’Brien – Chair

Cllr Eamonn O’Brien was appointed leader of Bury Council in May 2020 and has represented the St Mary’s ward in Prestwich since 2014.

He holds the portfolio for Technical Education & Skills and Clean Air for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Within the Local Government Association, he is a regional member peer, and was elected Chair of the LGA on 7 July 2026.

Aside from his political appointments, Eamonn works at the head office of a national charity managing the office administration.  He was educated at St Monica’s RC High School in Prestwich and Holy Cross College in Bury. He gained a BA (History and Politics) and MA (History) from University of Manchester. He also set up the country’s first student-led food bank in central Manchester.

Cllr Kevin Bentley – Conservative Group Leader and LGA Senior Vice-Chairman
Cllr Kevin Bentley was elected to Essex County Council in 2009 and appointed as the Deputy Cabinet Member to the Leader. Having served two years in this post he was promoted to the Cabinet in 2011 and appointed Deputy Leader to the Council 2013, where he led on Economic Growth and Infrastructure. He was elected Leader of the Council in May 2021.

Kevin is also a Colchester City Councillor and has previously been Leader of the Conservative Group in Colchester. He has served in the Colchester Cabinet holding the portfolio for Business, Tourism and Leisure. He has also stood for Parliament twice in Colchester. Kevin has been the Chairman of LGA People’s and Places Board, and led the Brexit negotiations on behalf of the LGA with Government.

He is also Chair of Transport East. Outside of politics Kevin is the Chairman of the awarding winning PR Digital and Marketing Agency, Mosaic Publicity and is a journalist by profession. Before leaving to set up Mosaic Publicity in 2000 he spent 20 years working for the BBC as a radio and television reporter and producer.

Cllr Peter Mason – Labour Group Leader

Peter has been the Leader of the London Borough of Ealing since 2021, and was elected the Leader of the LGA Labour Group in 2026. In that role he also serves as a Vice Chair of the LGA.

First elected in 2014, he served in Ealing’s cabinet in various portfolios including housing, planning, skills and employment.

Overseeing it’s rapid improvement journey, his priorities in Ealing have seen a focus on building connected communities, delivering growth in all of the council’s seven towns, and pioneering relationship-based approaches to public service reform.

Outside of Ealing, Peter was formerly the London Councils executive lead for employment, skills and planning. He has served as a non-executive director of LCIV, London’s LGPS pensions pool.

Most recently Peter chaired the IDeA and the LGA’s Improvement Committee, providing political oversight to the expansion of the LGA’s sector-led improvement offer, as well as serving on the LGA board as a Deputy Chair.

He is a longstanding activist within the Labour Party, having spent seven years on its National Constitutional Committee, and now representing constituency Labour parties on the ruling NEC.

Originally from Leicester, Peter graduated from the University of Birmingham and holds a Masters in urban regeneration from the Bartlett School of Planning.

Cllr Bridget Smith – Leader of the LGA Liberal Democrat Group and South Cambridgeshire District Council

Cllr Bridget Smith was born in Durham, has lived in Sierra Leone and relocated to Belfast during ‘The Troubles’. She read psychology at Durham University and her first job was at Manchester Royal Infirmary. She subsequently took a research position at the School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge. She remained at the University for postgraduate study going on to teach and eventually became Head of an Upper School.

Bridget took time out to be a full-time carer for one of her sons, during which time she published two books and established a successful community development charity.

Bridget entered politics in 2008 whilst running a consultancy specialising in environmentally sustainable community facilities. 2018 she became Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council and also sits on the boards of the Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority, the LGA, Local Councils Network and the Cambridge Growth Company.

Bridget is currently the longest-serving female Liberal Democrat Council Leader, with extensive experience in transformation and governance; including leading the UK’s first public sector Four-Day Working Week trial. She is an LGA peer mentor, an experienced mediator, and a sought-after public speaker on local government reform, leadership, and innovation.

Cllr Hannah Dalton – Independent Group Leader and LGA Vice-Chair

Cllr Hannah Dalton has been a Residents’ Association councillor on Epsom and Ewell Borough Council since 2015 and became Leader in 2021. She is currently Chair of the Surrey Leaders Group as well as the Independent Vice Chair on the South England Councils Board.

Hannah is passionate about female empowerment and the need to increase female representation across all levels of politics. In her role as DCN spokesperson for homelessness and housing, Hannah wants to seek opportunities for local government to work with central government to find long term solutions.

Hannah has a career in Human Resources which has included a period living and working in Madrid, and she continues to work as an HR Director.

Outside of politics and work, Hannah enjoys spending time with family and friends, perusing cookbooks which she occasionally cooks from and adding to her vinyl collection.

Cllr Stephen Atkinson – Reform UK Group Leader and LGA Vice-Chairman

County Cllr Stephen Atkinson is the Leader of Lancashire County Council, and represents the division of Ribble Valley South West. He served as leader of Ribble Valley Borough Council from January 2019 until he stood down earlier this year.

Born in Lancashire, a self-trained engineer, he started his first business venture with his brother at the age of 21. Together they now run a Lancashire-based educational furniture business as well as invest in commercial and industrial properties in the area.

Councillor Atkinson is married with two sons and describes himself as a devoted family man. In his spare time, he has a great love for the outdoors, enjoying walking, skiing, motorcycling, and sailing.

Cllr Emily O’Brien – Green Group Leader

Cllr Emily O’Brien was first elected as a Green Party Councillor in 2019. She is the Cabinet Member for Climate, Nature and Food Systems at Lewes District Council, where she oversees an ambitious climate and nature action plan. She was previously Cabinet Member for Planning and Infrastructure, and under her leadership the Council put sustainability at the heart of local planning.

Emily was elected as the Leader of the LGA Green Group in 2026. Until August 2026, she was the Vice-Chair on the LGA Neighbourhoods policy committee and was formerly a Deputy Chair of the People and Places policy board, as well as an LGA trained peer mentor.

In her professional life, Emily is an expert in complex partnership working across different sectors and has particular expertise around voluntary sector and community engagement. Her background is in place- based food systems, food poverty, and climate change and she has worked as the Partnerships and Development lead on the national Sustainable Food Places programme. She is a trained facilitator, and previously worked for one of the UK’s leading food partnerships, leading on innovative city-wide approaches to food and food poverty, and a successful bid to become the first gold Sustainable Food Place in the UK.

The LGA’s Office Holders

The Chair, Senior Vice-Chairman, Vice and Deputy Chairs of the Association are nominated annually by the four political groups, and approved by the LGA General Assembly. Together they form the LGA board. Under Article 21 of the LGA Articles of Association each group whose share of the weighted electorate exceeds five per cent of the total is entitled to one Vice-Chair. The larger groups are entitled to Deputy Chairs according to proportionality. The Chair of the Association is nominated by the largest group.

Executive Advisory Board Members

The LGA Executive Advisory Board comprises the members of the Leadership Board, the Chairs of the policy boards and representatives of Wales and the nine English regions. The County Councils Network (CCN), District Councils Network (DCN) and the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities (SIGOMA) also have a non-voting place, along with the chair of Local Partnerships.

Board Lead Members

Each policy Board includes a Chair, Vice-Chair and two Deputy Chairs – one nominated by each group. Collectively these are known as ‘Lead Members’ and they oversee delivery of the priorities in the LGA’s Business Plan, particularly between Board meetings.

LGA President / Vice-Presidents

Every year the General Assembly elects a President of the Association. The four Groups also appoint a number of Vice-Presidents. The President and Vice-Presidents are parliamentary representatives from the House of Commons, House of Lords, and they represent and champion the interests of local government in Parliament.