LABOUR has taken shock control of Worcester City Council - after a dramatic Green Party u-turn tonight led to a deal being struck.

Labour Councillor Adrian Gregson has swept to power as the city's new leader alongside an all-red minority administration propped up by two Greens.

Amid dramatic scenes the entire Conservative cabinet and Worcester's Tory leader Councillor Marc Bayliss was dumped from office, the culmination of 12 days of tense negotiations since the elections.

Labour and the Greens teamed up to vote through a 'no confidence' motion in him, ousting Councillor Bayliss after just 11 weeks as leader.

Worcester also has a new Labour mayor in Councillor Paul Denham - with the party starting work in earnest tomorrow, in power for just the second time this century.

The outcome came despite new Councillor Louis Stephen, the chairman of Worcester's Green Party, insisting last week that he would not back one single party.

He had produced an open letter asking for an unusual blue-red-green 'Rainbow-style' coalition, but changed his mind in the 24 hours running up to tonight's Annual Council meeting after the talks collapsed.

It came despite all three parties spending five hours yesterday trying to strike a deal, with Labour's opposition to working underneath a Conservative leader the sticking point.

The two Green councillors said nothing during the debate, apart from voting Labour into office, but released a statement during it blaming "tribal politics" for its decision.

The statement insisted that its chair Councillor Louis Stephen had "spent over a week" trying to secure its deal before giving up, saying they decided to support Labour because there was "more common ground" over policy.

The Greens said they wanted the "most democratic outcome" of genuine power sharing but after a Rainbow Coalition became impossible, ditched the idea.

It said: "Whilst disappointed to have not been able to get all parties to agree to power sharing, it is now vital to find a way to create a stable administration.

"Therefore, the Green Party have supported the change in leadership on the basis that for this year there is more common ground with the new administration."

It added: "Worcester Green Party had spent over a week prior to the meeting of full council trying to convince the other parties to work together to run Worcester City Council.

"However, tribal politics meant that this most democratic outcome was not achieved."

Tonight, Councillor Gregson said: "I'd like to thank everyone for their support and I will do my best to repay it."

Labour Councillor Joy Squires, his group's deputy leader, said: "At the recent elections people voted for change."

She called it a "progressive political alliance" to "elevate Worcester to its proper place".

A visibly-anguished Councillor Bayliss said he was "sad" to be ousted, taking a swipe at Labour for refusing to consider a multi-party deal.

He told the chamber Labour were "hell-bent" on power, mocking them by saying "somewhere in Labour-land they felt they won the election".

"Even if I never do this job ever again it's been a huge honour to have done this role," he said.

"While I'll be personally sad there's something much more important at stake, a stable leadership, which is why I favoured a multi-party cabinet.

"The truth is, Labour were unwilling to countenance power sharing.

"Their fixation is based on a notion that Labour 'won the election', no they didn't."

He said the Labour share of the vote across Worcester was 36 per cent this year - a fall on the 39 per cent it got when the same seats were up for grabs four years ago.

"Worcester did not vote for a Labour takeover," he added.

He called Labour "dogmatic zealots" and took a swipe at the Greens, saying he regretted them "changing their minds" after being pushed into it by Labour.

During the evening several Conservative politicians took swipes at the Labour-Green deal.

The Greens say the decision to support Labour will be reviewed in 12 months, with policies voted through "on a case-by-case" basis.

The all-new Labour cabinet will include councillors Lynn Denham, Roger Berry, Joy Squires, Geoff Williams and former Tory Jabba Riaz, although the exact titles for each will not be confirmed until tomorrow.

May's elections left the Guildhall in a state of 'no overall control' with 16 Labour councillors, 17 from the Conservatives and two Greens.

It was the only English council in the entire country where the Tories lost overall control.

It is now Councillor Gregson's second spell as leader, following a 12-month stint in 2013/14 - that was Labour's first period running the city since 2000.

On the weekend we revealed how hopes of a Rainbow Coalition lay in tatters after the Labour Party renewed its plea for a deal with the Greens.

At the time Councillor Gregson pointed to the two sharing many common policies, unlike the Conservatives.

ROGER KNIGHT SAYS GOODBYE AS MAYOR OF WORCESTER AS PAUL DENHAM TAKES OVER COUNCILLOR

Roger Knight has said his goodbyes as the Mayor of Worcester - calling it a "great honour" after handing over the chains.

During tonight’s meeting the Conservative, who represents St Peter's, called the last year "wonderful " as he stepped down as the city’s first citizen.

The new Mayor of Worcester is Labour Councillor Paul Denham, a former teacher and city magistrate who was due to be elevated to the role in 2014 before Councillor Alan Amos' controversial switch.

At the time, Councillor Denham had spent 12 months as deputy mayor, only for Councillor Alan Amos to then take the chains after joining the Tories and voting in a Conservative administration.

Councillor Knight, who represents St Peter's, paid tribute to his wife Freda for her help during his mayoral year and called the last 12 months the "shortest" of his life.

"It's been a great honour - it's been incredibly busy, but incredibly rewarding," he said.

"But it's been the shortest year I've ever known, it's literally gone by in a flash.

"The people have just been great, and it's that what has made the job great."

Councillor Denham said: “My main aim will be to promote the city to the best of my ability, this is a great city to be a councillor, never mind the mayor.”

Conservative Steve Mackay has become the new deputy mayor, with both new appointments being supported on a cross-party basis.

* More on the new leadership and mayorality at Worcester City Council will follow tomorrow – to see all the background to tonight’s decision go HERE.

* To see our live coverage from tonight go HERE.