No majority, no problem for Tories at Kelham Hall

The Conservatives remain in control at Newark and Sherwood District Council despite having no clear majority.

There were accusations of an underhand coalition being formed between Conservative and Labour at the first full post-election council meeting on Tuesday night so the Tories, who have 22 of 46 seats, could hold on to power.

The Conservatives choice for chairman, Keith Sheppard went unopposed, while their choice for vice-chairman, Mrs Marika Tribe received majority approval, ahead of the independent's nomination of Declan Logue.

The Tories also retained the leader and deputy leader posts for Tony Roberts and Roger Blaney respectively.

There were no other nominations.

Labour abstained from the vote but the 'no' votes of the independents and Lib Dems were not enough to defeat the Tories.

All cabinet posts are retained by Conservatives.

The trade-off was that Labour now has chairs of the policy overview and scrutiny committee and the services' overview and scrutiny committee.

The chairmanship of the third overview and scrutiny, External Relations will remain Conservative, but a Labour member will be their deputy.

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