The Conservative leader of Peterborough City Council, Wayne Fitzgerald, has lost a vote of no confidence this evening
A full council meeting took place at the Town Hall, where 32 voted in favour of the motion and 20 against
Mohammed Farooq, member of Peterborough First, was voted in as the new council leader.
Mr Fitzgerald said he expected to lose the vote, which was proposed by an alliance of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green councillors
A number of Tory councillors have recently switched to the Peterborough First group at the unitary authority
Nicola Day, leader of the Green group at the council, says the party is "supportive of a new Peterborough First administration".
She says they have promised to "deliver stability, better conduct and transparency".
Peterborough First has promised to "support green policies", she says.
Conservative councillor Oliver Sainsbury, sitting next to Mr Fitzgerald, says the more he reads the motion, the more "ridiculous" it sounds.
He says issues of agreement on policy decisions are because the majority of the opposition have failed to "back the big and challenging decisions we face".
If they can't make big calls in opposition, "how on earth are they going to do it administration?", he asks.
Mr Sainsbury says those putting forward the motion are not putting Peterborough first but are making a "power grab" for their own personal interests.
Mr Fitzgerald has been nodding as Mr Sainsbury has made his statement.
Peterborough First leader Chris Harper has read out the formal no confidence motion.
He asks for a vote on the issue. The motion has been seconded and will go ahead.
A debate will be held first before we get to the vote.
Image source, Shariqua Ahmed/BBCA group of opposition councillors have tabled a motion of no confidence in the leader to vote on later
The no confidence motion, signed by the ten councillors, contains accusations of "political attacks" and the "weaponization of the council administration" against opposition members.
The motion states these attacks have "led to the relationship between the leader (including his cabinet) and the opposition groups (including former group members) deteriorating to such an extent that the delivery of our council services and having majority consent on major policy including the budget are at risk".
At the same meeting Conservative councillor Ryan Ray of the Eye, Thorney and Newborough ward is putting forward a motion that says a by-election should be called if a local representative "changes their mind" and becomes an independent councillor.
Mr Ray, the Tories' chief whip and cabinet advisor to council leader Wayne Fitzgerald, said that the council should seek help from the city's MPs Paul Bristow and Shailesh Vara to call for a change in the law.
Speaking to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Mr Ray said: "There's nine people on the city council sitting somewhere where they were not elected to sit. That's 15% of the council. This can't be right.
"If you have changed your mind, then go ask your voters if they have as well."
Speaking of the no confidence motion, Mr Ray said he backs Mr Fitzgerald 100%.
A short break is being taken before "quite a lot of substantive business later on".
When the full council meeting resumes the no confidence vote is one of the motions which the council will vote on.
It is expected to be one of the last items to be discussed.
Ben Schofield
Political correspondent, BBC Look East
There are some testy exchanges now in the chamber as the council leader is being questioned on recent decisions.
He claims money was withheld from Peterborough by the Combined Authority in a "petulant" move by the directly elected Labour mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
He's also asked by a Lib Dem councillor if he voted in a particular way "out of a fit of pique" after seeing a picture of the "magnificent seven" Peterborough First councillors in a newspaper.
Mr Fitzgerald says there were many reasons for not approving the local transport and connectivity plan policy, including not removing language that could leave the door open to congestion or other fiscal charges being introduced.
He says for such an unpopular policy "when people are looking to remove me and administration from council", he will let them approve that policy.
The (Peterborough) mayor, chairing tonight's meeting, says the level of debate has "degenerated" a bit.
Image source, Shariqua Ahmed/BBCAs we told you earlier the council chamber is very busy tonight with many councillors, members of the public, press and the city's MP, Paul Bristow.
More than two hundred people are also watching the meeting online.
If successful in removing Mr Fitzgerald and his administration from power it would end more than 20 years of Tory leadership.
The Conservatives have been the single largest party on Peterborough City Council since 2000.
Here is the current breakdown of the council by party:
Conservatives - 23
Labour and Co-operative - 12
Peterborough First - 11
Liberal Democrat - 8
Green - 3
Labour - 2
Independent - 1
Image source, LDRSFather and son Mohammed and Saqib Farooq were among seven councillors who resigned from the Conservative group earlier this year
The Conservatives are the largest political party on Peterborough City Council, and they have been since 2000, but they do not have a majority and are running the unitary authority as a minority administration.
In May, the Conservative group took 30 seats during the local council elections, just one off a simple majority of 31 out of 60 seats.
However, within weeks of the election seven Conservative councillors resigned from the party and joined independent group Peterborough First.
The councillors gave a variety of reasons for resigning but among them were the disagreements with Wayne Fitzgerald's leadership style.
It means that the council is now run by a Conservative minority of just 23, though they remain the largest party.
Image source, Shariqua Ahmed/BBCA reminder that the no confidence vote is due to take place towards the end of the meeting.
Before that the full council meeting is business as usual.
Currently the council is answering questions from the public, the first being about the appearance and noise of a 5G mast put up in Coniston Road in Gunthorpe.
Sue Hamilton says the noise she can hear in her house is "unacceptable".
Conservative councillor Marco Cereste, cabinet member for growth and generation, says: "We will get the whole thing looked at again and see what we can do. We know we have a problem. We sympathise with you all and someone from the council will contact you all shortly."
A couple of times now he has said he would ask directors and offices at the council for more information. But he’s also hinted that it may no longer be his job tomorrow.
Image source, UK ParliamentPaul Bristow the Conservative MP for Peterborough has publically decried the vote of no confidence
The Conservative MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow posted on his official Facebook earlier saying if the vote was successful it would be a "travesty of democracy".
He claimed it was a "Labour backed coup". Three Labour councillors have signed the motion brought forward by the leader of independent group Peterborough First.
He called the former Conservative councillors who resigned after the May 2023 election "ballot box dodging independent councillors", saying it would be "a shocker" if Labour helped put them in charge of the council.
He said next year's council elections were the time for the people of Peterborough to vote for the council administration they wanted and it should not be a result of "backroom deals".
However, he said he would work with "whoever leads our City".
He added: "I want the best for Peterborough. But I will also hold them to account. I will also blame Labour if this turns out to be a mess."
Image source, Shariqua Ahmed/BBCCouncil leader Wayne Fitzgerald started his updates to the meeting with a joke.
"I got here tonight and thought 'is there something going on?' "It would be great if this many people came to normal council meetings, it would be absolutely marvellous.
"The chamber is packed probably because Dan Kalley is leaving PCC."
A round of applause was heard for Dan Kalley, the manager of democratic services at Peterborough City Council.
Image source, Shariqua Ahmed/BBCMayor Nick Sandford has told all the councillors there is the "potential for a difficult and contentious night".
He has asked all councillors to "be respectful" and where possible to "focus on the issues and not personalities".
It is "inevitable" that some councillors won't agree with what happens tonight, he says.
"But let us remember a peaceful transition of power, if that is what happens, can happen in our country but not in a large number of other countries."
Wayne Fitzgerald says he fully expects to lose tonight's vote.
He has been a councillor since 2006 - and leader of the city council since May 2021.
Councillor Fitzgerald said he thought he would "almost certainly" lose the vote and would "take it on the chin".
He added that he did not "recognise it" and it was "totally undemocratic" because the ex-Conservatives had not stood for re-election once they had left the party.
When he was asked about his political future, he said he wanted to stand as a candidate for Combined Authority Mayor.
Image source, Joanna Taylor/LDRSCouncillors from all parties will vote on the no confidence motion tonight
A no confidence motion has been put forward by Chris Harper, the leader of the independent group, Peterborough First.
Ten councillors, including the leaders of the Labour, Liberal Democrats and Green groups, have signed it. They are expected to put forward an alternative leader and administration at the same time as the no confidence vote.
The motion says opposition members "no longer have trust or confidence in the Leader of the Council, their cabinet or their administration and seek an alternative leader and administration".
Image source, Shariqua Ahmed/BBCThe meeting is taking place in the council chamber of Peterborough Town Hall
The council chamber is absolutely packed.
There are dozens of members of the public, most of the 60 councillors are here as well as Peterborough's Conservative MP Paul Bristow and the former leader of Peterborough's Labour party Shaz Nawaz.
Our reporter Shariqua Ahmed says leader Wayne Fitzgerald appeared to be in good spirits as he entered the chamber ahead of tonight's meeting at Peterborough Town Hall.
Ben Schofield
BBC East of England, political correspondent
Image source, Getty ImagesAside from the political intrigue, there are also potentially serious practical implications for Peterborough.
The authority has been battling to balance its books in recent years and has a government-recommended improvement panel overseeing its finances and governance.
This week, the council said a newboard of governors would help it make improvements in its children’s services provision. Ofsted had said the department left some young people in "situations of risk".
According to the current council leader Wayne Fitzgerald, other departments such as adult social care could face scrutiny in the coming months. He said the improvement panel would also work with the authority for an extra year due to the “political instability”.
That instability makes it unclear what will happen next.
Regardless of the answers to those political questions, arguably the bigger issue is how the council responds to its practical challenges.
It’s not just those who feast on political drama that should be watching, but also Peterborough’s tax payers and service users.
During the vote councillors from all parties will decide whether they want the leader or council to continue in post.
The initial vote needs the support of a simple majority of councillors to pass: together, opposition groups in Peterborough have 37, while the Conservatives have 23.
If councillors vote for the motion, a new leader and administration will be appointed, but if councillors vote against, there will be no change to the council leadership.
Good evening and welcome to the our live coverage.
A vote of no-confidence in the Conservative leader of Peterborough City Council and his administration is to take place at tonight's full council meeting, which has just started.
Wayne Fitzgerald has been leader since 2021. A no-confidence motion was submitted by opposition parties last month.
The vote is expected at the end of the meeting which began at 18:00 GMT. We will be bringing you coverage throughout the evening.
Wayne Fitzgerald arriving at the meeting