THE new leader of the Conservative party on Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is gearing up for next year's local elections.

Councillor Vera Moody took over the leader's job from Councillor Barbara Harpham during the general election, when Coun Harpham stood as Conservative candidate for the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency.

But, when she lost the seat to sitting Labour MP Ashok Kumar, Coun Harpham decided to take a back seat role within the party, although she remains a borough councillor for Saltburn.

At the Conservative group's monthly meeting, it was decided that Coun Moody, who lives in New Marske and represents the Longbeck ward, should take over the role permanently.

Her deputy will be Councillor Peter Spencer, who represents the Belmont ward, in Guisborough.

Coun Moody said: "I am looking forward to the challenge, and I am certainly looking towards the prospect of the elections."

She said she believed one of the most important roles of the council's opposition party was to scrutinise decisions, particularly as Redcar and Cleveland council was in the process of changing the way it operates.

"Bearing in mind we have one of the highest council taxes in the country, I want to see value for money," she said.

Labour's majority at the council stands at three after the Loftus by-election, when the party lost to the East Cleveland Independent party. Councillor Ken Seymour has defected from the Liberal Democrat party to Socialist Labour.