The Derby Conservative Group has unamiously chosen Harvey Jennings as their new leader and Matthew Holmes as deputy leader at their annual meeting today.

This follows the recent decision made by Cllr Philip Hickson to step down from the role of leader after nearly ten years. He remains a City Councillor for Allestree Ward.

Councillor Harvey Jennings said, "I am deeply honoured to have been selected to lead the Derby City Conservative Group for the forthcoming year and privileged that Matthew Holmes will be working alongside me as my Deputy in these exciting times.

Following in the footsteps of Councillor Philip Hickson, who has ably led the Group for many years will be a challenge, but one I am looking forward to.

I firmly believe we are on the threshold of change in Derby City and that substantial gains can be made by the Conservatives across the City in 2010".

Cllr Matthew Holmes steps up from the back benches to become deputy leader and is relishing the challenge. He said, "I'm very proud to have been given this opportunity by my colleagues in the Conservative group.



I will be drawing from the experience and significant talent we have in the Conservative group to work towards our aim of taking control of Derby City Council. I very much look forward to working alongside Councillor Jennings. We know that there is a lot of work to do and we plan to hit the ground running".

The new partnership will be seen for the first time at the City Council's Annual meeting on May 20th.