The new Conservative group leader on Cheshire East said his group will support the Labour/Independent administration 'where it is working in the public interest' but will 'up its challenge' where it disagrees.

Knutsford councillor Stewart Gardiner was elected as the group's new leader after Cllr Janet Clowes (Wybunbury) stepped down due to ill health.

Odd Rode councillor Liz Wardlaw is the group's new deputy.

Cllr Gardiner told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "I don't believe in objecting for objecting's sake.

"Where it is appropriate for us as the opposition to be supporting the administration in the interests of the general public, of course we'll do that."

But he said the group would robustly challenge anything it didn't agree with or anything it agreed with in principle but considered the detail was insufficient.

"I want to build a team where all the talents are used, whether that is the wisdom of the longer serving members or the enthusiasm and new thinking of new faces on the council," he said.

Cllr Gardiner, who has a background in planning, was elected to Cheshire East Council in 2011.

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"Now I am the leader of the Conservative group I have new responsibilities, but I will always be here for the people of Knutsford who elected me there in the first place. I'm not going to stop being their local councillor," he said.

And he thanked former group leader Janet Clowes, who he has been standing in for since she collapsed a couple of months ago and was rushed to hospital in an unconscious state.

"I would like to thank Janet for firstly giving me the opportunity to have been her deputy in a number of guises over all these years and for all the knowledge and skill that she has taught me not least of, sometimes it's better to bite your tongue and listen," he said.

"I thank her for that and for her continued support.

"I will miss her guidance and her tenacity, but Janet needs to put Janet first.

"She was selfless in what she did [as group leader] and that's why she ended up potentially being unwell."

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