UPDATED: Boston Council set to get a new leader

The former leader has reportedly stepped down to pursue his own business.Conservative Councillor Aaron Spencer, 27, was chosen by his fellow members to take over from Councillor Michael Cooper following a meeting of the party’s local branch association.A vote during Boston Borough Council’s Full Council meeting on July 15 will look to confirm the position.Councillor Spencer told Local Democracy Reporter Daniel Jaines he wanted to bring the chamber on all sides together, and utilise modern technology to promote openness and transparency.“My job is showing them I’m there for unity, it’s not the Conservative party that makes decisions, it’s the council,” he said.“Everyone needs to be involved and facing the challenges ahead.”He also hinted at an announcement set to be made in due course which would see the council leading a “major redevelopment” of an area of the town centre.He said this would be based at this stage around the bus centre and would identify development opportunities within the town.Councillor Spencer said he would be retaining his finance portfolio due to the time and effort needed to retrain someone to take over at this point. However, he said he would be stripping back the leader’s roles and handing some to his deputy Councillor Nigel Welton.He also planned to create a new cabinet holder purely for tourism.Councillor Spencer was elected in 2011 at 19 years of age. He has held a number of roles in the authority and at Lincolnshire County Council.He said he “had a lot of energy” and would be able to continue to fulfil all his responsibilities.He said Boston was “doing really good” and had “a lot to be proud of” but denounced online “naysayers” for not doing their part to make the town better.“There’s a vocal minority online who run the town down and everything down, always nay-saying about everything. It’s just crazy that goes on. Those people who like to talk to the death and not do anything.“I live here, instead of moaning, let’s make it better.”According to reports, Councillor Cooper will also be walking away from the cabinet as a whole as he opens a new modelling shop in the town.Reporters were unable to reach councillor Cooper by the time of publishing.Councillor Spencer said: “I’d like to thank Mike for the hard work he’s done for the past two years.”