The Labour leader for Lichfield and Burntwood has predicted that her predecessor will return to the local political scene sooner rather than later.
Steve Norman lost out on a seat in the Summerfield and All Saints ward at the recent local elections.
As a result his wife, Cllr Sue Woodward has stepped up to take over the leadership of the party on Lichfield District Council after she retained her seat.
But she insists this won’t be the end of his political life.
“There were some interesting and unexpected results at the election and obviously Steve’s was disappointing on a personal level for me,” she said.
“But reports of his political demise are greatly exaggerated!”
Cllr Woodward added that her husband was spending more time with his family in the wake of the May 7 results and said that he had no regrets about contesting the ward he did.
“There have been many comments about Steve’s contribution to the council and they have been greatly appreciated.
“Whether people agreed with his political views or not, Steve always worked hard to make the right decisions for the people of Lichfield District.
“He always knew that Summerfield and All Saints ward would be a tough one following the boundary review. But Steve had always represented Summerfield and he was never going to jump ship for an ‘easier’ election.”
Among those to pay tribute to Cllr Norman at a recent meeting of the council was Conservative Cllr Richard Cox.
He said: “In scrutiny he knew what he was doing and I learned a lot from him.”
