Chessington Councillor Andreas Kirsch has been elected as the new leader of Kingston Council (RBK), the borough's ruling Liberal Democrat party have announced.

In a statement posted to the Kingston Lib Dem website, a spokesperson said Kirsch's appointment had happened after an "internal election" within the group after acting leader Caroline Kerr announced her plan to step down as leader last week.

"The internal election took place after Cllr Caroline Kerr announced that she intended to step down from the role last week. A formal handover between Cllr Kerr and Cllr Kirsch will be arranged in the week ahead," a spokesperson said.

The press release published by the borough Lib Dem group also included a statement from Kirsch in which he described his "pride" in the appointment, which officially commenced today (Tuesday, October 26) according to RBK.

"The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames has always been an open, welcoming, inclusive and diverse place to live, work and socialise, and I’m proud to have been elected to lead our Council on the next step of its journey," he said. "I want to thank the Liberal Democrat Group on Kingston Council for putting their faith in me, and also to Cllr Caroline Kerr for her service over the past few years. The last 18-months have been difficult for so many in our Borough, but I’m proud of how Cllr Kerr led us through what was hopefully the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. As we start to rebuild from the past couple of years, Liberal Democrats have started to showcase exciting plans that invest in our communities. From building the first new social housing in a generation, to providing residents with services they deserve such as a new Leisure Centre for Kingston that people can enjoy for decades to come."

Kirsch also addressed what he called "continued challenges" including the climate emergency.

"I’m proud that Lib Dem-run Kingston Council has improved and upgraded many local parks for residents to enjoy, planted over 2,000 new trees borough-wide and worked to improve biodiversity on our doorstep, and installed electric vehicle charging points too. We’ve also stood up against the Conservative Government’s disastrous planning reforms that would allow developers to build whatever they like, wherever they like across our Borough, and more recently led the fight against the Government and South Western Railway’s proposed cuts to our vital local rail services," the Chessington South ward councillor wrote.

Kirsch was the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Commissioning at RBK under former leader Kerr, who said she was "excited" for his leadership and would be giving him her "complete support".

Lib Dem Leader and Kingston and Surbiton MP Ed Davey also commented on Kirsch's appointment.

"Cllr Andreas Kirsch has already proved himself in charge of the Borough’s budget, helping the council to recover from the financial mismanagement of the last Conservative council. So I am looking forward to working with Andreas to deliver for all the Borough’s residents, from Chessington to New Malden. With Government Ministers and London’s Mayor forcing more development on Kingston than is necessary, I will continue to campaign with our new Council Leader, against this unfair interference in our Borough," he said.

Kirsch ascends to the role amid a tumultuous period in Kingston that includes the borough's response and management of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the climate emergency and an increasingly acute housing crisis.

His predecessor also faced renewed criticism in recent weeks over the leadership's multi-million-pound plans to demolish the existing Kingfisher leisure centre (closed since 2019) and replace it with a new centre that would take several years to build.

Commenting on Kirsch's appointment, independent Lib Dem Jon Tolley, who resigned from the borough party in large part due to Kingfisher situation, posted: "Andreas is a very nice person and fwiw I wish him well. He is, however, the continuity candidate so it all feels a bit as you were."