LG Challenge 2026 winner announced
Created in 2009, the LGA’s Local Government Challenge brings together talented council officers to compete in a series of real-life challenges around the country.
The fifth and final round of the 2026 competition took participants to Cheshire West and Chester Council, where they were asked to address one of local government’s most complex strategic issues: balancing climate resilience with economic growth.
The challenge focused on the Origin industrial zone, a nationally significant area that includes major energy, logistics and manufacturing assets such as the Stanlow Refinery.
The area is also central to the UK’s net zero ambitions through emerging hydrogen production and carbon-capture technologies.
The LG Challenge teams were tasked with developing a long-term approach to managing flood risk and water demand while supporting sustainable economic development.
The highly technical challenge required participants to consider local and national priorities. Discussions centred on the area’s experience of summer droughts and winter flooding, changing regulations around water abstraction and drainage, and the need to balance environmental protection with industrial growth.
Teams worked quickly to understand the complexities of the brief before developing innovative, long-term solutions.
Team Athena, captained by Claire Goldsworthy (Cornwall Council), proposed ‘Capture the Future 2050’.
Their vision focused on long-term collaboration through a multi-agency partnership board, alongside plans for a circular water economy, community-led flood preparedness and a thriving innovation ecosystem.
The strategy aimed to establish Origin as a global leader in green technology and climate resilience.
However, it was Team Paradigm, led by Nadia Hussain (City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council), that took the win, with their pitch ‘Resilience is Growth’, a proposal that integrated flood resilience, water security and economic development into a single programme.
The plan centred on a partnership-led approach, bringing together regulators, industry, landowners and communities under a shared vision for the area.
Key proposals included a Resilience and Growth Partnership Board, an integrated investment pipeline and early delivery of nature-based solutions to build momentum and attract investment.
At the end of the challenge, it was revealed that the four overall finalists for 2026 were: Harrison Giles (Norfolk County Council); Nadia Hussain (City of Bradford); Shannon Kennedy (Wirral Council); and Victoria Lewis (Bolton Council).
The finalists, supported by the rest of the cohort, were invited to compete for the prestigious Bruce-Lockhart Scholarship at the LGA’s annual conference in Bournemouth, in early July.
There, each finalist had the opportunity to create an exhibition stand to pitch their scholarship proposals to conference delegates, before taking part in a presentation and Q&A session with local government leaders.
During an awards ceremony in the conference’s Innovation Zone, Victoria Lewis was crowned as the winner by LGA Chair Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, for her project ‘NextGen: Local Government’.
Her proposal is about building a sustainable talent pipeline for the sector by attracting, empowering and developing the next generation of public service leaders through modern recruitment, paid internships and mentoring.
Victoria will now have the opportunity to turn this project into a reality over the next year.
Meanwhile, officer nominations and applications are open for the 2027 programme via the LG Challenge website. The deadline to apply is Monday 7 September.