We are pleased to announce that Cllr David Simmonds is the winner of the 2019 Local Leader of the Year Award. Mr Simmonds is Deputy Leader of the London Borough of Hillingdon in the United Kingdom, ECR coordinator in the CIVEX commission and head of the UK delegation in the ECR Group.

Our Group gives a yearly award for local leader in recognition of the role that local and regional leaders play in providing bottom-up solutions to the challenges faced by our communities. Cllr Simmonds has helped to establish the Local Government Association as a key player in the Brexit debate and is very much engaged in trying to secure a deep and special partnership between the EU and the UK that reflects the needs of local government. He is also chair of the LGA's Asylum, Refugee and Migration Task Group, which as sists local communities in helping some of the most vulnerable families fleeing the war in Syria.

The following candidates for the 2019 Local Leader of the Year Award were shortlisted and deserve an honourable mention for their leadership in addressing challenges faced by their locality or region:

• Dr Pavel Branda, Deputy Mayor of Rádlo in th e Czech Republic, for his efforts to address real issues and find effective local solutions by working on people-to-people projects and small-scale projects in cross-border cooperation programmes, and for his role as the ECR coordinator in the COTER commission.
• Paweł Grzybowski, Mayor of Rypin in Poland, for his success as a trustworthy and effective local leader. His work on promoting equal opportunities for all, social integration and improving the competitiveness of young people in the labour market are all positive and appreciated contributions.