Negotiations are continuing amongst Labour Party members over who should become the next leader of Kirklees Council.

The council is currently in limbo after Clr Shabir Pandor failed to win over opposition councillors at the annual leadership vote in late May.

Prior to that the council leader was Clr David Sheard who was removed in a Labour Party coup.

All of those moves have left chief executive Adrian Lythgo temporarily in charge of Kirklees Council.

Clr Shabir Pandor, and right, Clr David Sheard
Clr Shabir Pandor, and right, Clr David Sheard

It is only the third time in its history that an unelected officer has had to step in.

Labour is by a comfortable margin the largest party on the council with 34 seats, the Conservatives have 20 and the Liberal Democrats nine.

Greens boast three seats and the Independents also three.

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The arithmetic means Labour would need all of its councillors to vote for the same person and they may need at least one of the Independents to agree to their proposals and this may well be a possibility.

On Monday night, members of the Labour group met to discuss how to progress the situation with councillors anxious to resolve the situation before the next Full Council meeting on June 29 when the matter will be debated once more.

Kirklees Council Chief Executive Adrian Lythgo
Kirklees Council Chief Executive Adrian Lythgo

While one source claimed there was agreement that Clr Pandor would become leader with Clr Sheard his deputy another source poured cold water on the idea saying: “there’s nothing on the table.

“We have to come forward with something that all of us in the Labour Party can accept and other parties can tolerate,” said one councillor.

The Examiner understands that Paul Nicholson, regional director of Yorkshire and Humber Labour Party Staff attended the meeting in an advisory role.

The Labour Party at a national level is anxious that the matter is cleared up as quickly as possible.