THE Conservatives will continue to run Kirklees Council.

And Labour will play no part in governing the district, despite being the largest group.

Council leader Clr Robert Light welcomed the arrangement, hammered out at a three-hour meeting yesterday.

He said: "Kirklees is not a revolving door. It's a £1bn business which effects the lives of thousands of people."

Lib-Dem and Green councillors voted for the Tories to run the district for the next year.

But speaking at yesterday's council annual meeting Labour leader Clr Mehboob Khan blasted the decision as a "Lib-Con trick".

Elections this month saw Labour go from 20 to 22 seats, with the Conservatives slipping back one to 20 and the Lib-Dems losing two seats to stand at 18.

The Greens won an extra seat to go up to four, while the BNP remained on three. There are two independents.

At yesterday's meeting Clr Khan said the election results gave his party the right to rule.

He added: "Since Kirklees came into existence in 1974 the largest party has always led the council.

"Anything else would be cheating the voters and undemocratic. It would be in danger of defeating the will of the people of the borough."

And Clr Khan accused the other two main parties of agreeing a deal before the meeting.

He said: "The outcome of this meeting is the worst-kept secret in Kirklees. We all know a Lib-Con trick has been hatched."

But speaking for the Conservatives, Clr Light said his party - which took over the running of the council last year - should be allowed to continue.

He said: "Kirklees is not a revolving door. It's a £1bn business which effects the lives of thousands of people.

"Since we came to power we've seen significant progress. There have been improvements in our towns, investment in roads and a below inflation council tax rise."

And Clr Light said Labour's spending plans - including a pledge to bring back weekly grey bin collections - would damage the council.

He said: "Their budget would be a disaster which would bankrupt the council and set it back ten years."

Lib-Dem leader Clr Kath Pinnock said post-election talks with Labour had not proved productive.

She added: "Our discussions with Labour were not particularly constructive.

"They stalled on policy issues.

"We were willing to support weekly grey bin collections if there was not an impact on council tax. But officers' advice was that the bill for this would be an extra £5m."

And she said Labour had been "unwilling to create an atmosphere of trust" during negotiations.

Green leader Clr Andrew Cooper said: "As no party has more than half the votes or seats no party has a reasonable right to run the council.

"Our co-operation is based on the promotion of Green Party policies and the ability to trust."

In the election for council leader Clr Light received 41 votes from Conservative, Lib-Dem and Green members. Clr Khan got 23 votes from Labour and independent Clr Terry Lyons.

The BNP councillors abstained.