See also>> Flintshire Council leader - Arnold Woolley>> The new Flintshire Council executive boardArnold Woolley, Independent councillor for Buckley Bistre East, was elected as council leader at County Hall.
He replaces Labour leader and Connah's Quay Central councillor Aaron Shotton, who lost his role as leader following Labour's disastrous results in the recent council elections, which saw the party lose power after more than a decade in charge.
The council will now be led by a coalition of Independents, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.
Labour, the second largest group at County Hall, has been frozen out and will now form the opposition.
Cllr Woolley, 68, said he felt a "great sense of responsibility" as the new leader of the council.
He added: "I will be looking hard at the needs of Flintshire and how the problems can be solved.
"I'm delighted that I'm leading a coalition and I look forward to considerable progress and great success on behalf of the people of Flintshire in the coming years."
Cllr Woolley gained the support of parties across the coalition, whose members voted him in as leader. Labour councillors abstained from the vote.
Cllr Tony Sharps, who represents Northop Hall as an Independent, is the council's new deputy leader.
The new executive board, which wields most of the power at County Hall, is dominated by members of the Independent Alliance.
Of 10 executive members, seven are independent, two are Liberal Democrat and one is Conservative.
Yesterday's packed annual meeting at County Hall was the climax of almost two weeks of negotiations between parties.
Since Labour lost its majority in the May 1 elections, which left the council under no overall control, talks have been taking place to form an administration.
As we revealed on Friday, Labour announced they would be forming the opposition party. The three other groups have now teamed up to form a coalition.
Quentin Dodd, Liberal Democrat councillor for New Brighton, succeeds Labour's Ann Minshull as council chairman.
Cllr Dodd, the council's first Lib Dem chairman for 35 years, praised his predecessor and said he would strive to be "open-handed" with all the parties during his year as chairman.
Colin Legg, Independent councillor for Halkyn, succeeds Labour's Dolly Banks as vice-chairman.
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