The lack of a functioning administration running South Gloucestershire Council more than two weeks after the local elections has been slammed as “unacceptable”. Cllr Sam Bromiley, the new leader of the Conservatives, has criticised the “shambolic behaviour” of the Lib Dem and Labour groups, who are still yet to announce a formal coalition following lengthy talks since the polls on Thursday, May 4.
He says it is a “worrying taste of things to come” from the two parties that made gains at the elections at the expense of the Tories, who had run the authority since 2015 but lost their overall majority and are now expected to fill the opposition benches alone in the chamber. In response, Lib Dem leader Cllr Claire Young said residents “voted for change” and that her group and Labour were having “positive discussions” about working together to deliver that.
South Gloucestershire is the only council in the South West still in limbo without political leadership since the elections. North Somerset Council announced a week ago that five groups, including Labour and Lib Dems along with Greens and independents, had formed a rainbow coalition.
