New leader of Wiltshire Council Jane Scott says she is having sleepless nights as she prepares to take the county’s local government into a new era.

The representative for By Brook was elected leader of the Conservative group at a meeting of Tory councillors on Saturday morning following their election victory.

Conservatives make up 63 per cent of the council with Liberal Democrats in second place with 25 per cent.

In the leadership election the two nominees, Mrs Scott and former leader of North Wiltshire District Council Dick Tonge, gave presentations to 60 of the 62 Tory councillors and then fielded questions before a secret ballot.

The ballot was organised by the South West Conservative group and the final tally of votes was not revealed.

Mrs Scott was relieved to receive the backing of her fellow councillors on Saturday.

She said: “I had a sleepless night before the vote. I hoped I had done enough to get people to support me.

“I think some people feared that the new council would just be an extension of the old county council with the same people running everything.

“But that is not how it’s going to be, I’m in the process of bringing together a new cabinet and I want people from both the old county and district councils and representatives from across Wiltshire.”

Mrs Scott, led the county council for more than five years and is now the most powerful Conservative in Wiltshire.

She said: “I have wondered what it would be like to have a go in Parliament but I love being able to see the difference I can make here in Wiltshire.

“It’s an interesting question, do you want to be a local person who can actually get things done in your community or a backbencher in Westminster.

“It is a huge privilege, what more can you want than to be able to make a difference?”

With a sizeable majority the Conservatives now have no excuses when it comes to tackling Wiltshire’s problems.

Mrs Scott said: “I’m really pleased with the size of the win, this is a mandate for us to lead the new council forward.

“Now we have to deliver on our promises.

“A main priority is the issue of waste. We currently have four collections across Wiltshire and we want to have the best possible waste collection service at the lowest price.

“We will undertake a big review of how we deal with waste and we are keen to build on the good work we’ve made with recycling.

“We are already recycling 40 per cent of our waste, which puts us a year ahead of our target.”

The new leader is also targeting the county’s leisure facilities.

She said: “We have different qualities across Wiltshire. Some are excellent and some need improvement.

“The new cabinet member for leisure will be making visits to individual centres to assess how we can raise the standard.

“It is so important for the health of the county and providing young people with exercise and activity.”

Underpinning all the council’s work is finances and Mrs Scott is hoping the unitary authority will lead to cash savings.

She said: “We have promised to keep council taxes low and to do this we need to maximise the efficiencies of having one council.

“In every area we will be looking closely at how we can make the best use of peoples money.”

Mrs Scott is also aware the thorny issue of roads is a concern for many people.

She said: “I know that potholes seem to be a number one priority for everyone I speak to.

“We have had a cold winter which hasn’t helped but that’s no excuse.

“We are filling 300 potholes a week and have put an extra £1 million into roads. For a low funded council we need to make difficult decisions on how to spend money and it underlines the importance of being efficient with costs and releasing more money into areas like highways.”

The new Area Boards, starting in late June and July, are also a priority.

“We promised voters a council that would understand their local needs and engage with people.

“The Area Boards will do that.”

For Mrs Scott is has been a long struggle towards a unitary authority.

She said: “The move to one council hasn’t been the most popular decision with everyone.

“Me and others have had many sleepless nights over the past few months and years trying to make sure it was delivered.

“But I’m pleased with the transition. I’m now just looking forward to getting on with the job at hand.”