Moving on from political limbo: Dealing with no overall control in English councils

Has there been a more exciting time to be a chief executive? If local government reorganisation and devolution were not enough to whet the appetite, there is now a 50:50 chance of heading up a council where no party is in overall control (NOC).Last month's elections left a record number of councils in England in the hands of coalitions or minority administrations – some of which may not last the summer. Added to that, the electorate served up a situation at a handful of councils where nobody was in control.In Kirklees, chief executive Steve Mawson is holding the fort until at least mid-July, when a third attempt will be made to elect a council leader and cabinet. Where needed, day-to-day decisions are being taken in consultation with party leaders.Oldham chief executive Shelley Kipling remains in the same position for the foreseeable future, after a further attempt to break the deadlock failed on Monday and councillors were again unable to elect a leader.But what does all this mean for stability, especially when finances are creaking and, sooner or later, budgets and other key decisions need to be addressed?Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU), said the biggest problem for councils left in political limbo is the ‘open-endedness' of the situation, with things likely to become increasingly serious as the year unfolds.‘For three months, it's probably OK. After six months things get more dicey,' he said. ‘Within nine months you need to be looking at the budget. It's particularly challenging in places doing local government reorganisation and trying to negotiate devolution deals.'According to the LGiU, 161 or 51% of councils in England are in NOC, including 23 that held elections in May.At the same time, many chief executives are not exactly strangers to such a scenario. Where a change in control looms, it is perfectly normal for chief executives to take charge of day-to-day matters for perhaps a few weeks.Sometimes this leads to coalitions, as happened in Birmingham earlier this month when the Greens and Lib Dems joined forces with independents to run the city council. Following the election, five parties in Birmingham have more than 10 seats, but the largest single party, Reform UK, holds less than a quarter of the total.Elsewhere, one or more parties will have a stab at forming a minority administration with the tacit support of its rivals. The problem this time around is political fluidity, with question marks over some minority administrations that, to many, appear to be marriages of convenience.This includes the Greens backing a Conservative leadership at Enfield LBC due to their shared dislike of a proposed new town.Added to that, many councillors elected in May are new or inexperienced. There are also more party groups than before, some of which appear to have little or nothing in common, said Carr-West.Reform UK and the Green Party tend to adopt a more flexible approach to manifesto pledges, he said, and at the same time lack a whipping system. ‘It makes for a very different form of coalition-building. Some of the coalitions that are emerging are quite unstable,' he warned.But Carr-West dismissed any suggestion that chief executives might secretly enjoy taking centre stage or are pleased to see ‘pesky councillors' out of the way for the time being. ‘It's not something they relish,' he said. ‘They believe in local democracy.'Robin Tuddenham, president of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (Solace), said council chiefs need not be fazed by the post-election volatility. While they may not be itching to take temporary charge, most are more than capable of rising to the challenge.Tuddenham's advice is to keep a council's constitution and governance rules close at hand. ‘They are your anchor in the storm,' the Calderdale chief executive said. ‘Technically, you are not the leader. You're acting as set out in your constitution and exercising power in the way that's required in the absence of a leader.'Party leaders, of course, should be no more than a phone call away. That will mean chief executives and other officers grappling with the vagaries of multi-party politics.But this is not a new phenomenon either, especially in local government. Councils, said Tuddeham, have become ‘increasingly adept' at dealing with coalitions and multi-party politics in a way that, generally, national political institutions and civil servants are not.Predicting what will happen during the coming weeks is tricky, if not impossible. After weeks of post-election stalemate at Colchester DC, the Conservatives and Lib Dems formed a coalition in early June. For now, the council is being led by Conservative Paul Dundas, with Lib Dem David King as deputy.The agreement in Colchester was reached just two weeks after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch stepped in and prevented her councillors from joining a ‘rainbow' coalition at Worcestershire CC alongside the Greens and Lib Dems. For now, the coalition is continuing without the Tories.Most parties are reluctant to work with Reform UK, but the Conservatives took control at Redditch MBC with the backing of Reform, even though the Conservatives boast just four councillors. Reform was offered the mayorship in return.Colin Mellors, emeritus professor at York University, said some councils will find it difficult to deal with the changing landscape, leaving chief executives to play a pivotal role. This may involve them acting as ‘adroit and nimble politicians with a small p' until councillors decide on long-term solutions.Unlike civil servants, who serve ministers, council officers serve the full council, he added. This means helping ensure there is widespread trust across the local authority, especially where deals are being discussed.‘A few might have had opportunity to prepare, but many will not and they will quickly need to work across party leaders to gain their trust and respect,' said Mellors. ‘Where political leaders themselves lack trust in each other, then chiefs will need to be more interventionist while recognising their own formal role.'Kathy O'Leary, chief executive at Stroud DC, has enjoyed direct experience of life at a NOC council for 14 years. Her advice is to build relationships across all parties and get to know as many councillors as possible, including those regarded as ‘coming up through the ranks'.This can reap dividends when the political arithmetic changes ‘on the swing of a sixpence' and a new party or leader takes control.‘The mistake that some chief executives make is only working with the leader of the administration,' she said. ‘It's about making sure that all members have the right information to allow them to make the decisions they need to.'O'Leary accepts life is tougher for chief executives when no party or coalition is in control, or the future of an administration depends on vague ‘confidence and supply' arrangements that could collapse at any moment.Yet even here a chief executive's skills can come into their own, providing them with an opportunity to not just hold things together, but to become a consensus-builder.‘It may be that you can test whether there is an appetite for an alliance,' she said. ‘You are talking to everyone but not everyone is talking to one another. You can suggest ways forward.'

Title

ELECTIONS

Moving on from political limbo: Dealing with no overall control in English councils

By Neil Merrick | 17 June 2026

Popular articles by Neil Merrick

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING

Popular articles by Neil Merrick