A new face is set to take over the top council job in Halifax.

Robin Tuddenham is set to take over the reins as chief executive of Calderdale Council after Merran McCrae leaves today.

After five years in the role, Mrs McCrae is moving on to be chief of Wakefield Council.

Mr Tuddenham is moving up from his current role as Calderdale Council’s Director of Communities and Service Support.

He has worked in local government at a senior level for over 16 years at Calderdale and for Waltham Forest and Barking & Dagenham Councils in East London.

He is credited with leading major transformation of the council at a time of unprecedented change in local government and has also undertaken reviews for other local authorities across the UK over the past ten years, most recently for Birmingham City Council.

He said: “It’s a great honour to be the next chief executive of Calderdale Council.

“Calderdale has become a very special place for me since I began working here in 2010, a place of vibrant market towns, villages and beautiful countryside, a place of enterprise, with talented people and an ambition to be the best borough in the north.

“I look forward to working with councillors, staff, partners, and local people to realise this ambition, building upon what Merran has achieved over the past 5 years.”