Statement made on 17th May 2023:
“Following the last set of local elections four years ago, Greens have led the way in developing a new kind of politics which means different political parties working together in a cooperative alliance, running the council for the benefit of residents. The extraordinary recent local election results this month show that local people agree with us that this is the right approach.”
“As the largest party, Greens have been leading negotiations with both the Liberal Democrats and Labour, inviting them to work with us to form an administration. We believe that we can once again create a co-operative alliance that works for the best interests of the whole district.”
“In the past 10 days, all parties had reached agreement on a new way of working, however we have now had confirmation that the national Labour Party have informed our local Labour colleagues that they currently do not have their approval to take part in a cooperative alliance together with ourselves and the Liberal Democrats, despite the success of the previous alliance.”
“It is incredibly disappointing. In the meantime exactly the same arrangements which were on the table yesterday are still on the table today for power sharing with the Liberal Democrats who are the second largest group. We genuinely hope we will continue to work in partnership to conclude the discussions, and put the interests of local people first and foremost, so we can see the new council firmed up as soon as possible.”
Further Statement added 18th March 2023
Following the Liberal Democrats’ statement to local media that they wish to ‘reopen negotiations’ on power sharing, the Green Party issued the following statement in response:
“As the largest party in both vote share and number of councillors, The Greens have been invited to form an administration. We have been working hard, in the spirit of putting residents first, to come up with the fairest and most stable leadership for the District Council.”
“We had an agreement with all parties at the weekend that gave very generous and fair arrangements including deputy leadership for the full 4 years, and additional presence on cabinet for the Liberal Democrats beyond what their vote share would dictate. We had all agreed to these arrangements and then we heard the news that our Labour colleagues were not permitted to join in.”
“We have gone back to the Liberal Democrats with exactly the same agreement we reached only on Sunday. It is disappointing that they have now changed their mind.”
“We hope they will work with us in a collaborative, grown up way of doing politics, and having joined us in the landmark moment of wiping out entirely the Conservatives, that they will embrace the chance to make history twice in one month.”