AS the dust settles on election night, it appears that nothing much has changed at Worcester City Council after this latest round of elections.

The Conservatives are the largest group with 17 seats, no change for them, with Labour down one on 15 and the Greens up one with three.

Conservative leader Marc Bayliss, already leader of the council, could expect to be elected leader again at the council’s annual meeting on Tuesday May 15.

Under the council’s rules, the leader of the largest party is automatically the council’s leader, with the leader of the second largest party the deputy.

But that is a very recent change to the authority’s constitution. It dates back to just March 27 this year.

At the time neither Labour councillors nor Greens were in favour of the change.

Labour members were particularly angered by what they saw as cheap political games, with Councillor Adrian Gregson, ousted as leader by the change and calling Conservative Mayor Steve Mackay’s casting vote, which broke a 17-17 deadlock, a ‘dirty vote’.

Now with a possible 18 votes against that rule, it could be changed back to allow any councillor with the support of a majority of councillors to be leader.

Cllr Bayliss and Cllr Gregson have both had two recent stints as leader in the council chamber, Cllr Gregson was in charge for a year in 2013, and between May 2016 and the end of March this year. Cllr Bayliss was leader briefly in 2016 and since March 27.

Between 2013 and 2016 Councillor Simon Geraghty, now leader of Worcestershire County Council, was leader at the Guildhall.

A new mayor and deputy mayor will be elected next Tuesday as well as the chairmen of the council’s committee system which was brought in a year ago to replace the more common cabinet system.