Bradford Council Conservatives unveil Shadow team

Anne Hawkesworth (small) Bradford Council Conservative Group Leader Cllr Anne Hawkesworth has today announced her Shadow Executive for the new municipal year.

In addition to her leadership duties, the Ilkley councillor will have responsibility for the widening regional agenda, together with culture, planning and highways.

Newly-elected Deputy Leader Cllr Glen Miller will take the corporate and organisational change portfolios, with Chief Whip Cllr Mike Ellis looking after environment and climate change.

Long-serving Wharfedale councillor Dale Smith will shadow social care, for which he previously had responsibility on the Council’s Executive, with Cllr Adrian Naylor taking the education portfolio.

Cllr Malcolm Sykes, another former member of the Council’s Executive, will shadow regeneration, with Bowling and Barkerend councillor Zameer Shah taking charge of the community safety portfolio.

Commenting, Cllr Hawkesworth said she believed she had a very strong team which would mount strong but responsible opposition to the Labour Group which has taken leadership of the authority following the Liberal Democrats’ failure to vote at the Council’s AGM.

“The Shadow team includes an excellent blend of differing experiences which will allow us to ensure that the key decisions taken by the Executive will be subject to intense but constructive scrutiny,” she said.

“We will not adopt a wreckers’ agenda but, instead, will seek to do what is right for the people who elected us.

“There is a severe shortage of financial resources both locally and nationally at the present time and that is likely to remain he case for several years to come.

“We must therefore seek to ensure that every public pound spent in Bradford district is used wisely and for the betterment of all local residents.”