Councillor Richard Cook has faced a string of challenges since joining Gloucester City Council five years ago - and he took on another when he took his place in the Punchline Talks hot seat.

He spoke to Punchline-Gloucester.com editor Mark Owen about a range of issues facing the city and future developments.

Among the topics covered, he explains how he joined the council, the cabinet and followed Paul James as leader, his steep learning curve through 15 months in the role, dealing with the council's waste management contract with Amey, The Forum, King's Quarter and other developments throughout the city and his previous career and moving to Gloucester.

And he talks about the issues brought by the pandemic, which has dominated his time as leader, ensuring the city's most vulnerable people were looked after and the lessons which can be learned moving into the recovery.

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