Labour, Lib Dems and Green Party form coalition to lead Harborough District Council

A coalition has been formed between Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party to run Harborough District Council.

It comes more than a week after the Tories lost seven seats on the council - and therefore their overall majority in the local elections.

The elections saw the Liberal Democrats gain two seats, the Green Party gain three seats - all in the Market Harborough Welland Ward - and Labour also gaining three seats.

In a statement to the Harborough Mail the three groups said: “We have been working hard since the election to seek a solution in the best interests of the residents of Harborough District.

“Voters sent a message loud and clear that they were dissatisfied with the Conservatives. With no single party having an outright majority, we can confirm that the Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party have an agreement to work together.”

The coalition will be putting forward Lib Dem Cllr Barbara Johnson for the position of chair and Cllr Phil Knowles as council leader at tonight (Monday’s) annual council meeting.

It comes after the Conservative group called at the end of last week for an ‘end to the period of uncertainty’ over who would run the council.

The Tories, now led by Cllr Jon Bateman after former council leader Phil King stepped down, had reached out to all political groups on the district council to see if there was an interest in forming an administration but said it ‘quickly became apparent that they have no interest in doing so’.

Cllr Bateman told the Mail: “ I am obviously disappointed that despite our efforts to engage with the other groups, they have decided to join together in a coalition to take control of the authority. This isn’t really what the electorate voted for and goes against the election statements put out by the liberal democrats about not voting Green or Labour. We shall be closely watching to ensure the coalition bring forward their various promises and hold them to account should they fail to do so.”