Bradford Council’s Conservatives have appointed a new leader.

Former deputy leader Councillor Glen Miller has replaced Councillor Anne Hawkesworth as head of the opposition group.

Councillor Simon Cooke has become deputy leader and Councillor Mike Ellis remains in his post as the chief whip.

In a joint statement following the group’s annual meeting, Coun Miller and Coun Cooke said: “The year ahead will undoubtedly be difficult at a Council level as the organisation is undergoing huge changes in order to rationalise layers of management and realise the efficiency savings which the former Conservative council identified.

“We intend to continue the job of ensuring that the Conser-vative group holds the Labour administration to account for the delivery of these efficiency savings in order to protect the services which are actually valued by local residents.”

Coun Miller and Coun Cooke said they would be forming a management team to revise their strategies for “providing an effective opposition”.

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