TALKS are continuing over which party will be taking control of the city council following last week’s election.

The political split on Worcester City Council changed again after last Thursday’s contest saw the Conservatives lose six seats and drop from the first to the third biggest party in the Guildhall pecking order with Labour now on top and the Greens in second.

While it was a huge loss for the Tories, the city council remains in no overall control with none of the four political parties managing to pick up a majority.

READ MORE: Worcester council leader loses seat as Conservatives drop seven

Labour could push to take control of the Guildhall after becoming the council’s biggest party, but group leader Lynn Denham is remaining tight-lipped over and only confirmed that discussions have been held with all political leaders – including the Greens and Lib Dems – and new Conservative leader James Stanley.

The political split in the Guildhall sees Labour as the biggest party with 12 councillors, closely followed by the newly bolstered Greens on ten councillors with the Conservatives on eight councillors and the Lib Dems, fresh from two gains, have four councillors.

READ MORE: Tributes for ‘formidable’ councillor Simon Cronin after shock death

Cllr Denham is set to use next Tuesday’s annual meeting to propose scrapping the current ‘joint’ leader arrangement, which sees two leaders picked from the council’s biggest parties, in favour of one leader from the party with the most seats, with the role of deputy leader put to a vote.

Following the shock death of Labour councillor Simon Cronin on Tuesday (May 9) – just days after he was re-elected to the city council – the party now has 12 councillors with the overall number down to 34 until a by-election has been held.

The bulk of the council’s plans are discussed in depth and voted on by the various committees, before they are later presented to councillors at monthly meetings where decisions are, for the most part, ‘rubberstamped.’

READ MORE: Labour become biggest party in Worcester after Tories lose big

The death has meant that while talks continue between the four party leaders, the list of which councillors will sit on each committee – and which parties will chair the meetings – is having to be re-written.

Under the current constitution, the Greens would be entitled to put forward a joint leader as the second biggest party which means power in the Guildhall would be ‘shared’ between Labour’s Lynn Denham and Green leader Marjory Bisset.

READ MORE: Huge wins for Greens in Worcester sees party become second largest

Last year, the constitution was changed to reflect those election results which saw the Conservatives lose their majority of one with the city council falling back into no overall control.

The Greens proposed a power-sharing venture between the council’s two biggest parties, which were then Conservative and Labour, but with Labour refusing to take part in the ‘joint’ leader proposal, the Tories were the only party putting a name forward.