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23
Dec
Tories and Labour issue denials as rumours of ‘backroom deal’ in North Yorkshire swirl
The leaders of the Conservative and Labour groups in North Yorkshire have denied striking a “backroom deal” to help each other, despite ongoing rumours.
When Councillor John Mann, who represents Pannal and Oatlands in Harrogate, left the Tories last month to become an Independent it meant the ruling Conservative and Independents group lost its majority.
The group now has 45 of 90 seats — precisely half.
This raised the prospect of the Tories having to enter into some sort of power-sharing agreement to shore-up their administration ahead of the next council elections in May 2027.
Cllr Tom Seston, the Reform UK leader on the council, said last week that said County Hall in Northallerton had been “awash with chatter about a backroom deal between the Conservatives and Labour”.
Cllr Seston, who represents Eastfield in Scarborough, claimed the Tories had offered Labour vice-chairmanship of the council and the chairmanship of the housing and leisure overview and scrutiny committee in return for not voting against them.
He added:
I know a lot of councillors from both parties are unhappy with this deal and appreciate how much of an unholy alliance it will be. I am in discussions with a number of councillors who feel they cannot stand by this deal.
The strange thing in all this is that a deal was not needed. The Conservatives could have worked with all parties on an issue-by-issue basis. Instead, they decided to broker a secretive backroom deal with a party that they’re supposed to be ideologically opposed to (which) stinks of a uniparty stitch up.
Cllr Tom Seston
‘No deal’
Asked by the Stray Ferret to respond to the claims, Conservative leader Cllr Carl Les said he “reached out to other group leaders quite often to discuss matters concerning the efficient and effective political running of the council” but insisted there had been no deal with Labour or anyone.
He said talks had taken place about the “change in proportionality” since Cllr Mann’s departure, adding:
The suggestions ranged from reintroducing the committee system, having a rainbow cabinet, and giving committee chairs to all other groups, no matter what size. It seems right to me that now having no overall majority we should consider the chairs of committees and council. Such changes will be proposed and debated and voted on around the time of the next council meeting, when we will be setting our budget for the coming year, and I look forward to Cllr Seston leading the charge for all those who have been in touch with him, together with Reform’s ideas on how we can fill our budget gap which, quite frankly, is a more relevant issue for the residents we serve.
I try to avoid the “chatter” that we are “awash with” that he refers to, as usually I find it is discussions by colleagues about discussions that they weren’t at.
A North Yorkshire Council meeting at County Hall in Northallerton.
The Liberal Democrats, as the largest opposition group, are the only opposition party currently to have a scrutiny committee chair. Labour group leader Cllr Steve Shaw-Wright said as Labour was the second largest opposition group it “may well be considered for a chair” in the wake of Cllr Mann’s departure from the Tories.
But he added Labour operated within national party rules that prohibited agreements.
He said:
“The Labour group can't, and won't, form any agreement to keep the Tories in power. Neither would we form a rainbow coalition with other opposition groups, which is again not permitted under our standing orders. As a group, we will vote for and against motions and reports that are brought before council after an open debate within the Labour group.”
‘Carl and Steve are backtracking’
However, two senior Tories told the Stray Ferret discussions had taken place.
One said the Liberal Democrats rejected a deal before Labour agreed and many Conservative councillors were unhappy when they found out.
He added he didn’t understand why a deal was necessary as the Conservative and Independents group still has 50% of seats plus the chair’s casting vote so it retained control of the council.
Another said a deal with Labour had been thrashed out but added: “I think it’s now falling apart, and Carl and Steve are backtracking because they’ve been found out. But I am not sure how they thought they’d get away with it given the appointments would be made at full council and it’d be so obvious to everyone.”
Cllr Peter Lacey, the Liberal Democrat leader on the council, said he had "discussed the evolving situation at North Yorkshire Council with Carl Les but no offer was made by Carl or proposed by me to keep the failing Tory administration afloat".
With the budget and committee positions due to be debated at the next full council meeting on February 14, things could get lively in Northallerton in 2026 as manoeuvrings ahead of the 2027 council elections intensify.
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