CHESTER Tories have a strong grip on the council they did not want.

Jun 6 2008 by David Norbury, Chester Chronicle

Chairman of the city Conservatives, Cllr Brian Crowe, was elected chairman of the shadow Cheshire West and Chester Council at the council’s inaugural annual meeting, held in the Assembly Room of Chester Town Hall.

Cllr Crowe, who represents Mickle Trafford, was joined by Cllr Mike Jones (Con, Broxton), who was elected as leader of the shadow authority.

Three other Chester councillors, apart from Cllr Jones, have seats on the council’s 10-strong executive.

Cllr Arthur Harada (Con, Overleigh) has executive responsibility for children’s services, Cllr Neil Ritchie (Con, Broxton) has environment and Cllr Richard Short (Con, Overleigh) culture and recreation.

“Eighteen months of seriously hard work and preparation have brought us here this evening,” said Cllr Crowe.

Cllr Ford will have executive responsibility for finance and performance on the shadow council.

Following the meeting, Cllr Jones said: “This is an exciting opportunity to create a new council that will be innovative in its approach to delivering quality services to all our residents and visitors in an efficient and effective way.”

The new council will set its budget for 2009/10 early next spring before taking over from the present district and county councils on April 1, 2009.

The location of the council’s new offices is due to be considered this month with a chief executive to be appointed in the summer.