Jackie Dickinson, who has served the local community for more than 12 years as a Councillor, has been elected Chairman of Leicestershire County Council for 2011-2012.

Jackie was first elected to the County Council, to represent the Enderby Meridian Division in 2005 and is serving her second term as a County Councillor. She served on the County Council’s Development Control and Regulatory Board, and the Environment Scrutiny Committee, and acted as Deputy Chairman of the Adult Social Care and Health Service Scrutiny Committee.

More recently Jackie has served as a member of the Scrutiny Commission and the Scrutiny Review Panel on Quality and Safeguarding in Registered Care. She is Deputy Chairman of the Children and Young People’s Service Overview and Scrutiny Committee and sits on the Development Control and Regulatory Board. She continues her work today as Chairman of the Blaby Highways Forum.

Since 1999, Jackie has also served on Blaby District Council.

Jackie is very active within the local community of Enderby. She has been a Parish Councillor since 2000 and one-time Chairman of the Parish, and is a big supporter of the Enderby Community Garden, known as “A Place to Grow”, which last year was shortlisted for a Guardian newspaper national award. Jackie is also a trustee of the Braunstone West Social Centre and is a past governor of Glenhills Primary School.

In her professional life Jackie worked at what was ‘English Electric’ (now Alstom) at Whetstone, Jackie moved to Wiltshire where she trained and later worked as a nurse. Following the death of her husband she returned to Leicestershire taking a public house tenancy in Leicester where she promoted local music and bands, before moving to Vodafone. It is fair to say that Jackie has had a fairly varied professional career, and in retirement is as busy as ever with her political offices.

Jackie has two sons and three grandchildren. Jackie’s consort will be Vicky Thornton during her term as Chairman. Vicky has plenty of experience of civic engagements as she acted as consort to Barry Garner during his year as Chairman in 2006/07.

Jackie Dickinson said:

“I am honoured to be elected as the 37th Chairman of the County Council and only the fourth female to receive this honour. I am looking forward to my civic duties and working with the many community and charitable organisations in Leicestershire.”

Peter Lewis, County Councillor for Loughborough South West, has been elected Vice-Chairman for 2011/12.

For more information see: here