Former St Albans council leader Chris White gets OBE

Chris White received an OBE for services to local government after 31 years as a Liberal Democrat councillor, including a stint as council leader from 2019 to 2024.

The 64-year-old stood down before this years local elections, bringing to an end a mammoth stint at the coalface of local government. 

Now he's been recognised in King Charles III's Birthday Honours list.

Chris told the Herts Ad: "Dead chuffed is the best way to put it. It's quite an unusual thing to happen and it's nice after 31 years as a councillor to have this public recognition. It's a real icing on the cake.

"It's quite exciting, I was surprised by how excited I was. I've had lots of lovely messages from people.

"One of the first people who sent me congratulations was a Conservative, and that's how it should be. People think we're at each others throats but we're not. We're all on the same side, all on the side of the public."

The importance of local government is something he is keen to stress, saying:  "There have been tough times. It's a thankless job. You don't get 'thank you' notes and perhaps you don't deserve them, but it's still much more important."

He says more people should go into local politics because: "It sounds like a cliché but local decisions are best taken by local people. There's nobody in Whitehall who can tell you what to do with roads or potholes. That's got to be done by local organisations who are locally accountable."

The two accomplishments he says he's most proud of are keeping St Albans City and District Council solvent despite 'huge cuts from central government' and declaring a climate emergency when the Liberal Democrats took control of the council.

Encouraging people to run for local office he says "Do it. Just do it. It's well worth it. You don't get riches beyond your dreams but doing something useful with your life rather than watching telly has got to be worth it".