Cllr Alex Winning said the day-to-day top responsibility for his Labour administration would be delivering the services residents expected.
The Shirley ward member was formally elected leader at full council on Wednesday afternoon, replacing party colleague Cllr Lorna Fielker, who announced in May that she would be stepping down from the top job.
Cllr Winning takes charge of the council with big changes and challenges in the present and on the horizon.
While there needed to be a focus on devolution, local government reorganisation, transformation and the council’s finances, Cllr Winning told the Local Democracy Reporting Service delivering basic services for residents ranked number one in his priorities.
“That’s all people want,” Cllr Winning said. “Our residents don’t ask a lot.
“People in Southampton, all they want is basic services delivered. We have to be doing that.
“We’ve got those sorts of bigger priorities, but the day-to-day bread and butter is just getting the basics right and be brilliant at the basics.”
The now former cabinet member for children and learning and father-of-one said his interests include football and cricket as a fan of both Saints and Hampshire, live music and stand up comedy.
Cllr Winning was born and grew up in Southampton, going to school at Tanners Brook and Holy Family in the west of the city before attending St George College in Swaythling for secondary education.
His first job at 16 was working in the post room at the Civic Centre where he “never in a million years thought” he would be leader of the council.
“It’s a really nice feeling and it’s a very special feeling and it’s one I will never take for granted,” Cllr Winning said.
“There’s a lot of trust in that position and I will repay the faith that’s been shown to me.
“I’ll always be open and honest and I will take the role incredibly seriously and serve the residents of this city because that’s ultimately what it’s about, it’s not about me or anything else.
“It’s about residents. It’s their money that we’re spending and we need to always have that of the forefront of our minds.”
The new leader accepted certain decisions and services had been “difficult” in recent months, referencing the Portswood bus gate trial and missed bin collections.
It was important to listen and deliver, Cllr Winning said.
On the bus gate, which was scrapped in May, he said this was the right decision.
“At the end of the day, it didn’t work in the way that we wanted it to and we needed to be quite honest about that,” Cllr Winning said.
“We know residents fed back around how it was or wasn’t working.
“There are residents that are sad to see it go.
“Obviously, there was a lot that were very happy to see it go. It won’t be coming back.
“It didn’t work in the way we wanted it to.
“Although that was as a scheme not a success, the trial proved that it’s right to have those trials and we did demonstrate that we’re listening and engaging with residents in reaching that final decision of, you know what, we’re not going to proceed with this.”
Cllr Winning said there had been progress on bin collections recently, but he also said: “We’re fully aware that things haven’t been good enough for some time in waste, and we’re as frustrated as residents with that, we want to get to an outcome where that service is working seamlessly.”
He added: “Waste collections from my standpoint is something that we shouldn’t even really necessarily notice.
“Your bin should go out, it gets collected, you bring it back in, you shouldn’t have to talk about it.
“The fact we’re talking about it a lot shows that there’s been issues.”
Asked if he had a message for the residents of Southampton, Cllr Winning said: “I think thank them for their patience through a difficult time in terms of waste and the Portswood bus gate.
“I understand those strong feelings that people have had, I really, really do.
“We are listening and we need to demonstrate that we’re listening better.
“Our residents in Southampton are really engaged in the world of the council.
“In some areas, that isn’t the case around the country, but our residents are engaged, they are active, they want to improve their communities.
“The council, for me, doesn’t run the city, people in Southampton run the city, it’s their city, not ours.
“We are in the position to basically manage the budget of the council and those services, but there so many people Southampton that just get on with stuff, making positive change all the time and we’re really lucky to have some of those community groups that do that.
“We’re just a part of this city, but it’s the resident city, it’s not ours, it’s not the councils.
“I thank them for being active and engaged.”
