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Election 2008: Night of drama ends with city control hanging in the balance
THE future of Portsmouth City Council hangs in the balance after a night of drama which ended with no party in overall control.
The Tories enjoyed a good night across the city, gaining four seats while the ruling Lib Dems lost one. That leaves the two main parties with 19 seats each.
With no clear winner, group leaders will have to sit down and thrash out a deal with the other groups before a ruling bloc can emerge.
Bargaining power lies with the small Independent and Labour groups who, with two seats each, could tip the balance of the council by joining with one of the two main parties in a power-sharing pact.
But until a deal is struck the casting vote on any council decision will fall to the mayor – soon to be Lib Dem councillor Richard Jensen.
But Lib Dem leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of the council until last night, said he will be approaching both minority groups to do a deal and keep power away from the Tories.
'Clearly there has been a big national Tory surge but we have survived – it could have been a lot worse,' he said. 'I have always been open about the fact that we would be prepared to work with any party who puts the future of the city first. It is best to have a coalition.'
But Labour leader Jim Patey, whose group suffered yet more losses across the city, said he would struggle to side with Independent councillors Leo Madden and Jason Fazackarley after they spectacularly quit the Labour Party amid a bitter row.
Cllr Patey said: 'It is very difficult with our two former colleagues. We always said it would be very difficult to sit round a table with them.
'We will have to discuss how to move forward from here. We are not jumping into bed with anyone just yet.'
The Independents remained tight-lipped about any future deal, although Cllr Madden confirmed they would be discussing possibilities with both the Lib Dems and Tories.
Despite slashing the Lib Dems lead, Tory leader Steve Wemyss said he was disappointed his party failed to take overall control.
'We expected to win', he said. 'Nationally the party is doing very well, but we ran a very positive local campaign as well.'
Cllr Wemyss, who pulled in 2,532 votes in Drayton and Farlington, refused to say whether the group would join forces with a smaller party to take control of the council, but admitted they would discuss the possibility.
State of the parties: click Next Page.Portsmouth City Council: state of the parties
Party Seats
Conservatives 19
Liberal Democrats 19
Labour 2
Independents 2
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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