Colchester: Power-sharing ends between Labour and Lib Dems

A 15-year coalition between the Liberal Democrats and Labour at a council in Essex has come to end.

The Lib Dems will run Colchester City Council as a minority administration after a vote at a full council meeting.

Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) earlier said its local party should not remain in coalition unless it could take the council leader post.

Lib Dem leader David King said "we look forward" to when a partnership might be possible in the future.

Mr King's party was the largest on the council, but Labour equalled its 15 seats following the recent local elections.

The Conservative opposition hold 19 seats, but Labour had promised it would vote to ensure they could not take charge.

Labour and the Lib Dems had argued about who should fill the leadership post, and Tory group leader Paul Dundas told the meeting on Wednesday "heaven help us" if Labour negotiate issues at a national level.

The situation was "unfair on officers, unfair on Colchester", he said.

Without being able to run the councils themselves, Labour and Green councillors voted in favour of the Lib Dem minority administration - led by Mr King - while the Tories abstained.

Labour group leader, Julie Young, said in a statement earlier: "The Liberal Democrats were unprepared to make way for a Labour leader of the council".

The Lib Dems will need support from at least 11 other councillors when it comes to passing its budgets and motions.

At neighbouring Tendring District Council, a deal was approved by Labour's NEC that allowed the party to enter into an independent-led coalition that was voted in on Tuesday evening.

The council, which includes the towns of Clacton, Frinton, Walton-on-the-Naze, Harwich and Manningtree, was run by the Tories for more than a decade.

Mark Stephenson, of the Tendring Independents Group, was elected council leader.

Ivan Henderson, who was Labour MP for Harwich from 1997 until 2005, has become deputy leader, and he said it was right that the NEC looked into coalition deals.

"They wanted to make sure that everything was solid and looked at the background of some of the people we were going into coalition with. At the end of they day they were satisfied that everything was OK," he said.

Meanwhile at Rochford District Council, two decades of Conservative administration came to an end with a coalition of small parties taking control on Tuesday night.

Rochford District Residents, independents, Lib Dems and Greens formed a joint administration, with John Mason from the Rochford District Residents elected as the council's new leader.

At a Southend-on-Sea City Council meeting last week, the Tories took charge as a minority administration at the hung council, following four years of a Labour-led coalition.

Labour had gained two seats in Southend at the local elections, but its Lib Dem and independent coalition partners failed to follow suit and actually lost councillors.

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