The news of Terry Fox’s resignation as leader of the council has dominated the election counts today, but there should still be a ‘huge amount of respect’, South Yorkshire Mayor, Oliver Coppard, says.

The resignation was announced this morning and followed a report criticising the Sheffield council for its handling of the tree felling scandal.

Liberal Democrats leader, Shaffaq Mohammed, has indicated the Information about the resignation had been embargoed for a week, before voting had finished.

South Yorkshire Mayor, Oliver Coppard, who was at the count in Sheffield, said: “A huge amount of respect for Terry — he took over the reins at a very difficult time and inherited a huge number of challenges and problems.

“He’s worked tirelessly for this city, agree or disagree with the things that he’s done, no one can doubt Terry’s care, attention, or work ethic.”

Sheffield somewhat curbs the national trend as Labour impressed throughout local ballots across the country. Indeed, although it has been placed under special measures by its national counterpart, Sheffield Labour will now have to negotiate with other parties on how to best move forward.

Mr Coppard said: “Across the country, the Labour Party has done really well, but there’s always more work to do.”

“We’ve got to have a negotiation with the other parties to understand how to move forward in this city.”