Greens take control of Lancaster City Council

The Green Party has taken control of Lancaster City Council once again, after one of their councillors was elected as council leader at a special meeting on Monday.

Caroline Jackson's leadership bid was backed by Liberal Democrat councillors and an Independent councillor. She was previously council leader from 2021-23.

The vote came after the former leader, Labour Councillor Phillip Black, resigned earlier this month and disbanded his cross-party cabinet. He had accused the Greens of wanting him to step down or face a no-confidence vote, when they became the biggest group followiing by-election wins.

Green Party councillors insist any leadership talks were civil and reasonable, Local Democracy Reporting Service has reported.

Speaking after the meeting, Ms Jackson said she was "honoured to be re-elected as leader" and was confident of "assembling a good team of new and established members to carry forward the priorities already established in the council plan".

However, she cautioned the council would face difficult budget decisions next year.

A new cabinet will be appointed this week, with a shared Green and Lib-Dem administration anticipated.

No other councillors were nominated at the extradordinary meeting on Monday, with 31 councillors including Greens, Lib Dems and Independent councillor Phil Bailey all voting for Ms Jackson.

Twenty councillors – Labour members, plus Independent Roger Cleet – opposed the choice of Ms Jackson, while five others – Conservative councillors and Morecambe Bay Independents – abstained.

There were also some absentees.

Former leader Mr Black said: “Labour voted against Caroline’s leadership tonight as a point of principle, after how the Greens conducted themselves with this whole messy affair."

He predicted the new administration would struggle, as it does not have an overall majority.

Councillor Gina Dowding, the Greens' deputy leader, countered: “It is unfortunate that Coun Black misrepresented the perfectly civil negotiations between the Labour and Green leaders and deputy leaders to revise the leadership roles in recent weeks."

Councillor Peter Jackson, Lib Dem group leader, said: “In these circumstances, where the previous three-party agreement has broken down, our district and its residents deserve a stable and broad-based administration."

Independent Heysham councillor Roger Cleet, who opposed the Green Party leadership, said: “There are no Green councillors in Morecambe. Under Labour, the town was well supported. Now we are into the unknown."

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