THE man pulling the purse strings of power in Worcester can today be revealed - and he wasn't even elected by the public.

Your Worcester News can reveal how Louis Stephen, the chairman of the local Green Party branch, is taking on a huge role in ultimately shaping the future leadership of Worcester City Council.

This so-called 'wish list' of Green demands were put together with heavy input from Mr Stephen, and yesterday he even took temporary ownership of the document to alter with the wording so it matches his ideals ahead of last night's negotiations between councillors.

The list was also put together with Cllr Neil Laurenson, the city's lone Green, and members of the party in the city.

Mr Stephen is 47 and lives in Bath Road, in a house which also doubles up as the Green Party's Worcester base, and he is playing an increasingly important role in the negotiations.

Yet despite his influence he has never been an elected member of the city council, and stood in the Battenhall ward last Thursday, finishing a narrow second to the Tories by 112 votes.

After months of ferocious campaigning Mr Stephen managed to get 751 votes, compared to the 155 the Greens secured in the same ward in 2012, the previous time it was contested.

More than 22,500 votes were cast across Worcester in the local elections last week but only 2,441 went to the Greens, around 10 per cent of the total tally, despite the party and its chairman now playing a 'Kingmaker' role.

Mr Stephen, who works in the engineering section of a major international company, also says he wants to stand again and has close connections with the party's national leadership.

The left-winger said: "We believe in resisting cuts and outsourcing and instead growing excellent customer services."

On his own party profile he admits he "rejoiced" at Labour's general election victory in 1997, before becoming upset with "spin, sleaze" and war.

He also talks about life growing up in Margaret Thatcher's Britain, citing the riots and miners' strike as his abiding memories.

Cllr Laurenson, meanwhile, insists he has also been at the heart of the negotiations, working in tandem.