Councillor Vikki Slade is the Leader of the Council, and the portfolio holder for Dynamic Places

This portfolio includes:

• place-shaping 
• strategic planning and the Local Plan 
• the Local Transport Plan 
• regeneration and infrastructure 
• BCP Council policy 
• emergency planning and response 
• equalities and diversity 
• BCP Council Constitution and controls 
• relationships with BCP FuturePlaces and the Bournemouth Development Company.  

Vikki moved into the Poole area around 25 years ago, settling in Broadstone where she still lives with her husband and family.

With no background in politics, Vikki’s route into local government began whilst she was running her catering and cafe business on Broadstone High Street. A self-described agitator, it was her campaigning for local small business issues through the Chamber of Trade which led to Vikki being invited to stand for the council. Successful at her first attempt, she is now in her fourth term.

A mother of four children herself, Vikki is passionate about youth services. She is a volunteer youth leader, school governor and was a Young Enterprise mentor for seven years, taking on five apprentices within her own business.

Some of Vikki's most rewarding achievements in her time as a councillor have been in relation to homelessness, championing the plight of families trapped in temporary accommodation and working with them to find homes. She has called for a stronger policy on developers to secure affordable and social housing.

A committed environmental campaigner, Vikki has worked part time in Climate Communications for several years, and has campaigned locally around clean water, recycling and renewable energy.

Vikki sees her role as Leader of the Council as one of service to BCP residents, saying:

“The one thing I have as Leader is a voice. What’s always driven me is using my voice for the good of people who cannot use theirs.

“Services that the council offer can change people’s lives, and for councillors it’s a huge privilege to be able to be able to sort out a problem for a resident and to change people’s lives for the better.”

For the upcoming term, she is ambitious for both the council and the BCP area, saying:

"We are working to restore the Council’s reputation. We need people to be saying that it’s great to live here, great to visit here, great to invest here, and we want the Council to be part of making it great.

“We see really good, professional work being done every day by council officers and we want residents to see it too. We want people to learn to trust us again”.